The Warmth of Your Love
by friendsoftheabccafe
Summary: "The warmth of your love's like the warmth from the sun." Just a bunch of random, unconnected Solangelo one-shots throughout their relationship. In some they will be together, in some they won't be yet, but it will all focus on the ever-fascinating relationship of Nico di Angelo and Will Solace.
1. Self-Destructive

**Hello there! So I finally got around to reading Heroes of Olympus over my Christmas break, and it only reminded me how much I adored Percy Jackson in middle school. I also became super obsessed with Solangelo and have spent almost every night since I finished the series reading Solangelo fanfiction, and I think I'm finally ready to try my hand at it. I haven't written fanfiction since my freshman year of high school (I'm now a freshman in college), and it's been so long that I couldn't even remember my password to my old account (although to be honest, I didn't try _that_ hard to remember it because my fourteen year old writing is super cringe worthy). So I'm starting fresh here! I'm a little nervous to post this because I'm extremely critical of my writing and rarely let anyone read what I've written, but I've been in a writing slump for a while and am trying to punch through it by working on this.**

**As I said in the summary, these are just going to be unconnected one-shots based on whatever comes to mind. Updates will probably come irregularly, depending on when I get a random burst of inspiration/have time and/or motivation to actually write out that inspiration. Anyway, sorry for any possible OOC-ness... like I said, I'm a bit rusty! **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"I am not self-destructive!"

Nico held up a manila folder that was previously lying open on the small table next to his infirmary bed. The folder was filled with various papers and had _"Nico di Angelo"_ written in cursive on the front.

Will hastily grabbed the folder from Nico's hands. "Hey, you're not supposed to look at that!"

The other boy crossed his arms. "It's _my_ medical file, and you're the one who left it open. Plus I don't appreciate you talking shit about me in it."

"Watch your language, young man!"

"Solace, you know I'm technically like eighty years old, right? Therefore, respect your elders." Nico stepped forward and reached out to take the file back, but Will quickly shuffled backwards while holding it above his head, causing the son of Hades to stumble slightly.

"Whoa there, sir, you better be careful!" Will said teasingly. "You don't wanna throw out your hip or strain your back! Here, let me escort you to your bed until we can get you a proper cane."

Will tucked the file under his left arm and wrapped his right arm around Nico's shoulders, ignoring his protests and guiding him three steps towards the bed. Nico grumbled about Will's terrible sense of humor as he planted himself down, but he couldn't stop the faint blush creeping to his cheeks. The son of Apollo chuckled, thinking his sense of humor was on point, as he grabbed his stethoscope from around his neck.

"I don't need a cane, and I am _not_ self-," Nico began.

"Shush, Death Boy." Will interrupted, placing the stethoscope on Nico's chest, who immediately flinched at the sudden contact. "Breathe deeply for me."

Nico reluctantly gave three deep breaths as Will listened to his heartbeat. When he was satisfied, he replaced the stethoscope around his neck and wrote a few notes in Nico's medical file, angling the folder so Nico couldn't see what he was writing, despite the stubborn son of Hades' attempts to catch a few words.

"What are you writing?"

Will ignored him. "You've greatly improved over the course of these three days. Looks like you should be ready to go this afternoon."

"Well, I certainly hope I've improved after all the food you've forced down my throat and the constant bed rest."

"And yet you're still a stick, still extremely pale, and still _forbidden to use any Underworld-y powers_!" Will said these last words slowly for extra emphasis. "I'm serious, Death Boy. I know you don't believe it, but there are many people who wouldn't want to see you become an actual dead boy."

The son of Apollo added a couple more notes as Nico watched him with curiosity. "So why'd you say I'm self-destructive?"

"Because you are, dummy. I don't write lies in here."

The son of Hades huffed. "That doesn't really answer my question. What do you mean by self-destructive?"

Will closed the folder. "Nico, if I hadn't made you stay here for three days, would you have sought help for yourself?" The other boy remained silent. "You and I both know the answer is no, you wouldn't have. You'd have allowed those werewolf scratches to get infected and continued to dangle on the verge of becoming a literal shadow. You deal with physical pain by developing this ungodly high pain tolerance, and you deal with emotional pain by pushing everyone in your life away to make certain they don't have the slightest chance of hurting you first. You constantly insist I aid the other patients in the infirmary before I get to you, not because you want to save everyone else, but because you think you're not worth saving."

Will paused. "You're wrong about that, of course."

"That's—"

"Completely true. Don't even try to deny it. I wrote it in your file, so it must be true. Like I said, I don't write lies in here."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Since when did you become my therapist?"

"Since I became your friend."

The son of Hades looked up and found himself staring into a pair of piercing blue eyes. He immediately averted his own eyes as he felt his face redden once again and stumbled for a way to respond. Luckily he was saved by Will's half-sister, Kayla, walking into the room with a white bowl.

"Hey, Will! You want these grapes? I grabbed too many at breakfast, and no one else wants them."

"Yeah, I'll take them!" Kayla placed the bowl in Will's outstretched hand.

Nico watched Kayla exit the room and head towards another bed with a badly burned girl lying in it. "Don't you have other patients to take care of?"

Will popped a grape in his mouth. "Nah, it's relatively slow today, compared to the last few days at least. Most of the patients have already been treated to the best of my abilities and just need bed rest. If anyone new comes in with severe injuries, I'll attend to them, but for right now, my siblings have it covered." The son of Apollo picked at another grape. "Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No, I just want to make sure I'm not intruding on your time."

"Don't be stupid, Death Boy, of course you're not." Will held out the bowl. "You like grapes?"

Nico nodded and accepted a grape. "Definitely more than pomegranates."

"You don't like pomegranates? I thought those were the trademark food of the Underworld." Will set the bowl down in between them. "I'd think you would love pomegranates."

"Not anymore," Nico answered quietly, recalling his time spent in the jar, surviving on pomegranate seeds. Will hoped the son of Hades would elaborate, that he would be comfortable enough to share with him some of the things he went through, but Nico's silence said it all. He wasn't ready to talk about it yet, and Will wasn't going to press him.

Suddenly, Nico was jerked from his sullenness by a grape hitting him square on the forehead. "What the hell was that?"

Will looked at him innocently. "I was testing your reflexes. That's what doctor's do."

Nico rolled his eyes. "You're ridiculous."

"Ridiculously handsome." Will wiggled his eyebrow at Nico. In response and to prevent a blush from returning to his face for yet a third time, the black haired boy threw a grape at the smirking blonde.

"No, just ridiculous."

"Oh, really?" Will grabbed a handful of grapes and started chucking them one by one at Nico. The other boy quickly scooped up some of his own ammunition, and Great Infirmary Grape War began. It was hard to say who came out victorious, but soon all of the grapes that were once in the bowl were now scattered across the room, and the two boys were sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, and laughing at themselves.

Will was the first to stop laughing as he watched Nico's usually brooding face light up with actual happiness. Nico noticed Will staring at him, and immediately stopped laughing as well.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You have a nice smile."

Nico's eyes widened, and he felt his stomach flip-flop a few times and that all too familiar blush creep back onto his face. He quickly turned away, but Will still caught a glimpse of his red cheeks, prompting the son of Apollo's own face to gain a hint of crimson as a result.

"Um thanks," Nico said when he regained his composure. "I suppose we should probably pick up these grapes."

Will glanced around. "Yeah, it looks like the Grapes of Wrath in here." He chuckled at his own lame joke while Nico just stared at him. "Anyway, yes, we don't want any ants in here. That's completely unsanitary."

The two boys gathered all of the grapes and threw them in the trash this time instead of at each other. Will picked up Nico's medical file and opened it to write down something else.

"Now what are you writing, Sunshine? Talking more about my self-destructiveness?"

Will smiled at the nickname. "No, I'm commenting on your reflexes," he teased. "I'm also recommending, and by recommend I mean you don't really have much of a choice, that you stop by the infirmary at least once a week for a checkup."

The son of Apollo made his way to the door, stopping in front of the threshold and turning to face the son of Hades.

"But you're free to stop by every day if you want. I always enjoy the company of a friend."

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**A/N: Thank you so much for reading!**


	2. You're Not Alone

**Firstly, I want to thank everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed! It was so sweet of y'all to do that, and it made me really happy to know that people actually enjoy what I write. Secondly, I'm surprised I updated so quickly, but I had the conversation that takes place in this chapter in my head for like weeks now, and I needed to write it out. Don't get too used to the fast updates though. Thirdly, this chapter includes a lot of my own personal headcanons and doesn't have as much Solangelo until the end because a chunk of it involves Piper (because one of my headcanons is that Nico and Piper turn out to be really good friends...), but rest assured, the ending is worth it (I hope?).**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Nico sighed deeply as he observed Camp Half-Blood from his favorite branch in his favorite tree. The cabins glistened in the hot, mid-afternoon summer sun, and he could see many campers hanging around the lake in attempts to not overheat. Nico himself was thankful to have the shadows to keep him cool since he refused to dress appropriately for the weather, despite Will's insistence that he try wearing shorts and that, contrary to the son of Hades' beliefs, no one would actually be blinded by his legs.

The sound of someone climbing the tree below shook Nico from his thoughts.

"What do you want, Jason?"

"Unfortunately, I can't answer that question seeing as I'm not Jason."

Nico looked down, surprised to see a girl scrambling onto a branch next to his. "Piper?"

"Yep. What are you doing in a tree?"

He watched the daughter of Aphrodite get situated. "What are _you_ doing in a tree?"

"Looking for you." Piper carefully swung her left leg over the side of the branch. "Which brings me back to my original question."

Nico ignored that question again. "What, is Jason looking for me or something?"

"No, _I_ am. Were you not listening?" Piper smirked, peering at the boy beside her. "It's been a few days since Will released you from the infirmary, yet here you are, hiding away in a tree."

"I like watching the camp from here."

Piper turned her head in the same direction as Nico's. "It's a nice view. You ever thought of actually going down there?"

"I've considered it."

"So listen, Nico," Piper began, directing her attention back to the boy beside her. "I know we're not as close as you are with Hazel or Reyna, but I've been meaning to talk to you about something important."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I already told Jason that I am not expanding the color palette of my wardrobe, even if he thinks I would look great in green. "

Piper laughed. "No, that's not what I want to discuss... though he's not wrong."

The son of Hades raised his eyebrows, so the daughter of Aphrodite took that as an invitation to continue.

"Did you know that Zeus fell in love with a boy named Ganymede, so he made him his personal, immortal cup bearer? Poseidon also supposedly had a boyfriend called Pelops, whom the Peloponnesian region is named for. Heracles had a boyfriend, Hylas, as well. And not to mention Apollo had several male lovers, including Hyacinthus... and he fell in love with a laurel tree, but that's a different story."

Nico scrunched his nose. "Piper, why are you telling me this?"

"Because, Nico," Piper looked at him with genuine care. "The gods have rejected heteronormativity for eons. You don't have anything to be ashamed of."

"How did you-?" Nico felt his face redden. "Jason told you, didn't he?"

"He didn't have to- wait, Jason knew?" She gave him an incredulous look. "How the hell did _Jason_ figure it out before I did?"

"He didn't," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was kinda forced to reveal my- er- leanings when we met Cupid." Piper nodded her head in understanding. "So how did you find out?"

She leaned closer to Nico. "My mother is Aphrodite. I basically have this inherited intuition for that sort of thing." This time it was Nico's turn to nod. "But seriously, you don't have to be embarrassed by your former crush on Percy. I can see why a lot of people might find him attractive and heroic."

"Your special Aphrodite powers could tell I used to have a crush on Percy?"

Piper shook her head. "Actually, I overheard Percy complaining to Annabeth about how you told him he wasn't your type."

Nico sighed. "He's never going to let that go."

"Absolutely not," Piper affirmed with a slight chuckle. "But you know, if you spent some real time with other campers instead of hiding in trees, you'd realize that you're not the only non-heterosexual demigod."

The son of Hades glanced at her questioningly.

"I'm not lying! You will not find a single heterosexual male in the Apollo cabin, and even heterosexual females aren't as commonplace. A good chunk of the Athena cabin is either demi or asexual, and most of the Aphrodite cabin is pansexual to the point where even I'm starting to question myself. Plus there are random campers of various orientations scattered in each cabin."

"Wait, there aren't any straight guys in the Apollo cabin?" Nico responded quietly, his mind drifting to a certain doctor-of-sorts. "Are you sure?"

Piper nodded and gave a knowing smile. "I'm positive. So if you're worried about anyone judging you, don't be. You're not alone."

The two demigods sat in a comfortable silence for a while, watching the camp below them and letting Piper's words resonate.

"Anyway," the daughter of Aphrodite said finally. "I should probably go find Jason. He's working on a shrine to Hebe, and I'm worried he'll make the goddess of youth's shrine a giant baby carriage or something."

Nico let out a small laugh at the image as Piper slowly dropped onto a lower branch. "Wait, Piper?"

She poked her head up. "Yeah?"

"Thanks. For what you said."

"No problem." Piper smiled. "I just thought that was something you needed to hear. And Nico, I know you're not comfortable right now sharing who you are with everyone, but maybe you could start with one person? Find someone that you really trust, someone you might be willing to open up to."

Nico watched as she climbed down the tree, leaving him alone with his thoughts once again. He stayed up in his tree until the afternoon sun began to lower in the sky and campers started heading towards the dining pavilion for dinner. He figured he better join them, knowing that a particular son of Apollo would reprimand him for missing dinner, so he carefully descended the tree. Once firmly on the ground, Nico began to walk out of the woods when he noticed that same son of Apollo who recently graced his thoughts leaning against a tree with his back facing the other boy.

"Hey, Sunshine," Nico said as he approached him, expecting him to flinch like everyone else did when he snuck up on them. He was taken off guard when instead Will turned around and flashed him a blinding smile.

"Hey, Death Boy!"

"I didn't scare you?"

Will shook his head. "No, you don't scare me. Why, were you trying to?"

Nico shoved his hands into his pockets in response and stared at the ground.

"So anyway," Will continued, "Piper said I might find you here. I wanted to make sure you didn't leave me... and the camp." He added the last part hastily.

The son of Hades looked up at the boy in front of him, and he suddenly felt a strange rush of emotion.

_Find someone that you really trust, someone you might be willing to open up to._

But could that someone be Will?

"Come on, let's go to dinner." The son of Apollo beckoned his head towards the camp, but the other boy remained in the same spot.

"I'm... different." Nico said suddenly.

Will chuckled. "Well, yeah, we're demigods. We're supposed to be different."

"No, I mean-," Nico found himself losing his resolve.

Will noticed the strange face the other boy was making. "Whoa, Nico, are you okay?" He walked towards him and instinctively grabbed his wrist. "You look like you're going to throw up."

Yes, that someone definitely could be Will.

"I'm gay."

Nico's eyes widened at his own boldness as the blonde froze, his hand still around Nico's wrist and his expression mimicking one of surprise. Quickly, Will broke out into a smile and moved his hand so that he was giving the son of Hades a handshake.

"Hi gay, I'm Will."

"Did you just-?"

"Also known as bisexual," Will finished with a smirk. Nico let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he looked into the other boy's face, and he couldn't help but match Will's smile with a small smile of his own. They stayed like that for a good ten seconds until Nico remembered they were still shaking hands, and he immediately pulled his hand back and returned it to his pocket.

Will placed his hands in his pockets as well. "So, dinner?" Nico nodded, and the son of Apollo fell in step with the son of Hades. As they approached the pavilion, Will leaned down to Nico's ear, their shoulders brushing in the process. "Thanks for sharing that, by the way. I'm honored that you feel comfortable enough with me to share something so personal."

Nico's face reddened at their close proximity. "Well, someone recently told me that I'm not alone."

"And do you believe them?"

Nico met Will's eyes. "I'm starting to."

* * *

**A/N: So I wasn't sure whether to make Will gay or bisexual because I've read fanfics for both, but I decided to go ahead and make him bisexual. I hope the focus on Piper wasn't horrible... like I said, I've had this in my head for a while and decided to finally write it out. Plus I really think that would be something Nico needed to hear. Anyway, thanks again for reading! **


	3. The Sun Will Rise

**So my classical mythology professor was telling us about some version of the song "Let It Go" translated into Ancient Greek (albeit poorly, according to him), but he then proceeded to inform us that the Greek term for "let it go" is "erreto", which basically means "fuck it". I don't know why I felt the need to share that with you, but now you can impress all your friends with this tidbit of knowledge given to you by some random girl on the internet. **

**Anyway, thanks so much for reading this! Your support means the world to me! :)**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

The morning sun had just begun to rise, painting the sky over Camp Half-Blood with hues of orange, yellow, pink, and pale blue. It truly was a beautiful sight to behold, but a certain son of Hades wished he could view it under very different circumstances, like when he hadn't just relived Tartarus for the millionth time in his nightmares. He knew that any other person would appreciate the image above him, but he only felt as if the sun was taunting him, laughing at his pain. Nico huffed and leaned his head back against the wall of his cabin, except he accidentally added too much force and slammed it instead.

"If you keep doing that, Death Boy, you're going to cause permanent brain damage."

Nico was surprised to see his favorite son of Apollo (not that he would ever admit that) standing to his right, towering over the sitting boy. "Will?"

The blonde planted himself down next to him. "Nico, why exactly are you sitting outside your cabin at six in the morning?"

"Just thinking," Nico said quickly, trying to shrug it off. "Why are you up? I thought you didn't get in until late last night."

Since the school year resumed a little over a month ago, Will returned home to his mother, who had relocated to Boston in order to be somewhat closer to the camp. Now it was only about a four hour train ride to New York City, meaning he could visit a couple weekends each month.

"Yeah, I didn't get here until about midnight because of delays," Will replied.

"So what the hell are you doing awake this early? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Will sighed. "I should. But you see that big ball of light over there?"

"The sun?" Nico deadpanned.

"Yes. That is why I am not sleeping."

The son of Hades gave the other boy an incredulous look. "You know, just because your father is the sun god, doesn't mean you have to actually rise with the sun."

Will shook his head. "No, you don't understand. It's practically impossible to sleep when you hear your father in your head, yelling 'HEEEEEEEERE'S THE SUN! WOOOHOOOOOOOOO!'"

"Oh gods, he really does that?"

"Yes. Every. Single. Morning." Will shrugged, "Most of the time it's not too annoying. Some of us go for a run or an early swim in the lake while some just stay in the cabin until breakfast."

Nico nodded, and the two fell into a comfortable silence until Will glanced over.

"I hope you know I'm very disappointed in your choice of pajamas."

Nico looked down at his black pajama pants and black t-shirt. "What's wrong with my pajamas? Jason got them for me so I would stop wearing jeans to bed."

"I agree with him on that, but he should have gone with something other than solid black. You should try being daring for once in your color choice! I bet some tie-dyed pants would look excellent on you!" Will responded with a chuckle.

"That's not funny." Nico directed his attention at Will's choice of pants. "At least mine don't have Snoop Dogg on them."

Will furrowed his eyebrows. "Snoop Dogg…?" Suddenly he burst out into a hysteric fit of laughter.

Nico stared. "What?"

"His—name—is Snoopy!" The son of Apollo replied in between laughs.

"Whatever. I was close."

Will still continued to laugh. "No—Snoop Dogg—is a famous—rapper!"

Nico's face turned red in embarrassment as Will's laughter echoed in the morning air. Finally he managed to calm down.

"It really wasn't that funny," Nico commented.

Will wiped a tear from his eye. "On the contrary. I think that was the funniest thing I've ever heard you say."

The son of Hades rolled his eyes and peered at the ground instead of responding. Will couldn't help but watch as Nico absentmindedly played with a blade of grass, his raven hair falling slightly over his face, which for some reason the son of Apollo found extremely attractive. Of course, he found nearly everything about Nico attractive, but that wasn't the point.

"You're still sleeping irregularly, aren't you?" Nico slowly nodded. "You'd think after two months of peace you might have some sort of normal sleeping pattern."

"Sunshine, I haven't had a normal sleeping pattern in ages. I didn't think it would be fixed overnight." Nico shrugged. "I mean, sure, it would be nice to sleep completely through the night for once, but I deal."

Will sighed. "That's the thing: you shouldn't have to just _deal_. I wish there was a way I could heal it." Nico turned to see the other boy giving him the most genuine and caring look that anyone had ever given him, causing his breath to get caught in his throat as he stared into Will's eyes.

"You've already done so much to heal me," Nico said softly. Normally he would have looked away by now, but he allowed himself to linger in that moment.

Will finally broke the gaze when he stood up and held out his hand.

"You wanna go for a walk?"

Nico hesitated before accepting Will's outstretched hand to help pull him up. Once on his feet, he found himself alarmingly close to the son of Apollo that he could actually feel his natural heat radiating from him. Nico took a step back, and although he was reluctant to let go of his hand, he did anyway, and the two boys began to walk side by side.

They trekked in silence with no destination, just enjoying the presence of the other person. Occasionally Will would playfully nudge Nico's shoulder with his own. Two months ago Nico would have given him a death glare for doing so, but after spending so much time with him, he had gotten comfortable enough to return the nudge. In fact, Nico realized as he glanced over at the boy beside him, he had gotten comfortable enough to do a lot of things, share a lot of things with the son of Apollo. The nagging feeling of last night's terrible dreams made him want to share another thing.

"I had nightmares about Tartarus last night," he said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Will stopped in his tracks. He had heard the rumors that Nico had been to Tartarus, but he hadn't wanted to believe them. He told him about his sister, his sexuality, his former crush on Percy, the labyrinth, and being trapped in a jar by giants, but he never mentioned Tartarus, so Will had thought, or at least hoped, that the rumors were just rumors. However, looking at Nico's face, Will realized with a horrible sinking feeling in his chest that the son of Hades really had been.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Nico shook his head. "Not the specifics. I don't know, I think I just needed someone to know about it, that's all."

Will stepped forward and placed a hand on Nico's shoulder. "Is there anything I can do?"

Nico tried to hold back a blush. "I like walking with you. You're a nice distraction."

"Well," Will said, flashing the other boy his best distracting smile, "I shall do what I can."

"Thanks," Nico replied with a small smile. The two continued to walk until they approached a large, grassy hill.

"Hey," Will stopped, "I bet you I would win if we raced up that hill."

Nico crossed his arms. "Oh please, I would kick your ass."

Will cocked his head. "Why don't we find out for sure then?"

"You're on."

The two boys darted up the hill in a mad dash, trying to slow one another down by pushing each other out of the way. Near the top, Will took the lead, but just seconds before he could claim victory, Nico threw a rock at his feet, causing him to trip and face plant into the ground. Nico threw his hands into the air victoriously as he passed the fallen boy, but his victory was short lived when Will grabbed his ankle and pulled his foot right out from under him. As Nico collapsed on the grass, Will pinned him to the ground.

"I won."

"You cheated."

Nico smirked. "I never said I would _fairly_ kick your ass."

Will rolled his eyes but smiled too. "You're such a little shit."

It was at this point that Nico realized the position they were in. Will must have realized it too because he quickly scrambled off the son of Hades and helped him to his feet, only this time he held tight to Nico's hand, keeping a very minimal distance between them.

"So I guess you'll be wanting your prize." Will bent down and picked up a dandelion, handing it to Nico.

"A weed? Not gonna lie, Solace, that's a pretty crappy prize," Nico responded, failing miserably to stop the crimson from rushing to his face. Luckily Will's face was just as bright red, but that didn't deter him from remaining mere inches from Nico.

"Well, I had another prize in mind, but I wasn't sure how you would react to it," Will whispered.

Nico could feel his heart pounding so hard in his chest to the point where he thought it would jump right out of his body. "What's the prize?"

Will slowly leaned down until his lips met Nico's. Much to Will's surprise, he didn't pull back or tense up, but instead he was _actually kissing back_. Will let go of Nico's hand and instinctively tangled his own hands in the other boy's hair as they both lost themselves in this one perfect moment. After who knows how long, they finally broke apart but remained staring into each other's eyes.

"So," Will said with an embarrassed and very happy smile. "That happened."

"Yep," Nico answered, clearly flustered by what just transpired.

Will took Nico's hand and laughed. "I reckon that was long overdue, huh?" Nico laughed as well, still in complete shock.

The two boys stood hand in hand together on that hill, looking at the sun, now further into the sky, as it reflecting over the lake.

"You know," Will started. "Even though it can be super annoying when my father wakes me up every morning, it's also kind of comforting."

"How so?"

"Because no matter how dark and terrible the night is, as soon as I hear my father's cheering voice, I know the sun will rise and bring with it a new day."

Nico gazed from Will to the sun, suddenly gaining a whole new appreciation for the early morning sun.

* * *

**A/N: So I started to write a chapter where they were already together, but even though these are supposed to be unrelated one-shots, it still felt weird to have a chapter with them together before one of them actually _getting_ together. The next one will probably be something cute with them as a couple, but after that I'll most likely start going out of order. When I began to write this one, I honestly had no idea where the hell I was going with it, so I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I'm also terrible at describing how people kiss... I literally was getting second hand embarrassment from my own writing and just gave up trying to rewrite it. I hope it wasn't too awkward (but let's face it, these two nerds would so be awkward afterwards).**


	4. Hawaiian Shirt

**Hello! So I decided to write this instead of working on my long research paper for one of my Brit Lit courses because I have my priorities completely straight. This means that you shouldn't expect another chapter until Tuesday night (4/21) at the earliest. **

**Anyway, this chapter is just a random thing I came up with that I thought would be cute.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"There is no way I am wearing that."

Nico stared disgustingly at the shirt his boyfriend dangled in front of him.

Will laughed. "What, you don't like it? I think it brings out your eyes." The son of Apollo received a lethal glare in response. "Oh come on, just wear it for an hour!"

"Over my dead body." Nico shook his head. "Actually not even that. Knowing you, you really would dress my corpse in that _thing_ for my funeral."

Will considered that for a moment before silently agreeing. "It's really not that bad," he said as he gestured to the shirt.

Nico scoffed. "Yes, it is. It's a Hawaiian shirt, for gods' sakes! A sickeningly bright and blindingly ugly Hawaiian shirt! I bet you wouldn't even look good in it… Why do you want me to wear it?"

"I don't know," Will shrugged. "Now that we're together, I thought it might be cute if you wore the same shirt you were wearing the day you came back to camp with the Athena Parthenos and we became friends.

"Okay, first of all," Nico began, "I'm not cute. I'm a force of darkness." Will attempted to stifle a laugh. "And secondly, you're telling me that this shirt is the exact same one I was wearing that day?"

"The very same!"

"How in the name of my father did you even get a hold of this? I threw it away!"

"Yes, but you threw it away in one of the infirmary trash cans. I just couldn't let this shirt disappear, so I took it from the trash while you were sleeping," Will replied proudly.

Nico scrunched up his nose. "That's kinda gross and a little creepy."

"I washed it!" the other boy said defensively. "And it's not creepy, it's sentimental."

"Whatever, I'm still not wearing it."

Will gave Nico his best puppy dog face. "Please?"

"No."

"Pleeeeeaaaase?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"I don't care about the level of attractiveness of the please."

"Come on, Death Boy."

"Nope."

"Yes."

"Shall I say it in Italian? No."

"I don't speak Italian, therefore I didn't understand what you said. Was that a yes?" Will pecked his boyfriend on the lips.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Bribery will get you nowhere, Sunshine." He turned and started to walk away.

"You're impossible!" Will called after him.

"Yep!"

The son of Apollo huffed as he watched the impossibly stubborn son of Hades disappear into his cabin.

Unfortunately for Nico, Will wasn't about to give up that easily.

* * *

The next day Nico trudged past the infirmary after helping Percy train some of the younger campers in how to wield a sword, but he immediately regretted his decision to come within range of that place when the door opened and out came Will, sporting his own Hawaiian shirt.

Nico stopped walking. "What the hell are you wearing?"

Will struck a pose. "I think I look sexy."

"I think you look stupid."

The blonde dramatically placed his hand over his heart and gasped. "You do offend me so."

Nico folded his arms across his chest. "Good. Why are you wearing that?"

"Because I thought if I wore one too, you might be willing to try yours on for a bit and not feel so ridiculous by yourself."

"Seeing what you look like in it, I think I'd actually feel _more_ ridiculous with you," Nico teased. "Nice try though!"

And with that he left Will standing alone and once again musing on a new plan.

* * *

"Seriously, Will, how many of those do you own?"

For the fifth day in a row, the son of Apollo donned a flashy Hawaiian shirt, different than the previous four.

Will just smiled in response. Nico shook his head as he diverted his attention to his cereal, trying to ignore the insane boy sitting next to him. In his periphery vision, he caught sight of a figure plopping down across from him, so he glanced up to greet said figure.

"Hey, Jas—oh my gods." Directly in front of him sat Jason in a blue, flowery Hawaiian shirt.

Jason began to pick at the scrambled eggs on his plate. "Good morning, Neeks! Fine day out, isn't it?"

Nico glared at his boyfriend and then at the boy across from him. "I'm going to murder you, Grace."

"Hey now, let's not murder people," Percy commented as he and Annabeth planted themselves down next to Jason.

Nico face palmed at the sight of Percy's Hawaiian shirt with the image of a beach on it.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me right now, Jackson."

"What?" The son of Poseidon asked innocently as he cut into his blue pancakes. Annabeth let out a small chuckle while taking a bite of her own pancakes (not blue). Thankfully she wasn't wearing a Hawaiian shirt as well.

Nico stood up. "I'm so done with you people." He grabbed his bowl of cereal and, ignoring the snickers from Will, Jason, and Percy, fled the dining pavilion.

* * *

But he wasn't done with those people because the following morning he approached his friends' table like usual, except he stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of them. Every single person, meaning Will, Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Calypso, and Grover, were all wearing—yep, you guessed it—damn Hawaiian shirts. Nico noticed that in the empty spot beside his boyfriend sat the same Hawaiian shirt Will wanted him to try on a week before, folded up nicely and waiting for him. Nico huffed a sigh of defeat and marched over to the table, grabbing the shirt and shoving it onto his torso.

"One hour."

Will high-fived Jason before flashing Nico a bright, victorious smile and pecking him on the cheek. "I knew we'd crack you eventually!"

* * *

After breakfast, Nico and Will walked hand in hand towards the infirmary for Will's shift. It hadn't quite been an hour yet, so Nico still sported the vivacious shirt.

"Well, I learned something very important about you this past week," the son of Hades commented.

Will raised his eyebrows. "What's that?"

"That you can be just as stubborn as I am."

The son of Apollo grinned proudly and leaned in for a kiss. However, several other children of Apollo decided to walk by them at that moment, causing Nico to step back when he saw what they were wearing.

"Seriously, Solace?" He asked incredulously. Will turned around to see a few of his siblings dressed in their own Hawaiian shirts.

"Um… I didn't ask them to wear those," he replied, feeling extremely confused.

Nico pointed at a random kid from the Ares cabin. "Did you ask him?"

Will shook his head. "No…?"

The two boys scanned the camp, noticing that several other campers donned bold Hawaiian shirts. A few Demeter kids, some Hermes children, a random Hypnos girl—all wearing their own in a unique style. Even Drew had one on with the sleeves cut off and tucked into a black skirt.

Will looked back at Nico, mimicking his bewildered expression. "I think I accidentally started a trend."

* * *

**A/N: As usual, thanks for reading! **


	5. Breaking Free

**So my Brit Lit paper has been turned in, hoorah! I also only have one week of class left before finals week, so hoorah for almost being done!**

**Anyway, I've officially started going out of chronological order with these chapters. In this one Nico and Will are not together yet. I also feel like my writing was just super off yesterday and today; I had the most difficult time writing this and rewrote the beginning three times, and I'm still not satisfied. I mean, there are parts of it that I like, but I mostly feel ehhh about it. I apologize if you feel the same way, but I came up with a ton of more one shot ideas, so hopefully I'll be back soon with a better chapter! **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Will would never forget the day Leo Valdez returned to Camp Half-Blood, almost landing his mechanical dragon onto the dining pavilion in the middle of dinner nearly three weeks after the war with Gaea ended. A teary eyed Jason smothered the boy in a hug while Piper punched him in the face (before breaking down into sobs and hugging him as well). The entire Hephaestus cabin, led by Nyssa, tackled Leo to the ground football style, cheering and crying for their returned brother. No matter how well they knew Leo, every camper donned a smile on their face. Even Nico couldn't help but smile at the spectacle.

After Leo explained how he survived to Chiron and introduced everyone to Calypso, who had slid off of Festus unnoticed amidst the excitement, and after everyone finished dinner, Will found himself in the infirmary for his final shift of the day, examining Nico as part of his weekly checkup.

"Looks like your heart rate is good," Will commented, folding up the stethoscope. "Let me check on those werewolf scratches though."

He carefully undid the bandages on Nico's bicep, revealing the slow-healing claw marks. He covered the scratches with his right palm and muttered something in Ancient Greek, causing a tingling sensation to seep through Nico's skin where Will's hand was placed. Will then rubbed some herbal medicine over the wounds for extra measure.

"Werewolf scratches are tricky bastards," the son of Apollo said as he wrapped new bandages around Nico's arm. Nico lifted his hand to roll down his shirt sleeve, brushing Will's own hand in the process. "Gods, Death Boy, why are your hands always so cold?"

Without waiting for a response, Will grabbed one of Nico's hands and placed it against his own warm face. The son of Hades could feel a blush creeping to his cheeks but managed to suppress it, that is until they received an unexpected visitor.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Will and Nico froze as Leo stepped into the room, his eyes darting between the two boys. Will realized that he still had Nico's hand against his face and quickly let go of it.

"No, not at all." Will hastily threw away Nico's dirty bandages. "I didn't get to tell you earlier, but welcome back, buddy."

Nico stood up. "Yeah, I knew something was off about your death. It's good to have you back though."

Leo grinned and puffed out his chest. "Thanks! I guess the gods just felt this world was too sad without Leo McShizzle in it!" A small roll of thunder caused Leo's smile to fade quickly from his face.

Will chuckled. "Anyway, did you need something?"

"Well, you know how Piper punched me in the face?" The son of Hephaestus sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I, uh, think she broke my nose."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Wow. Piper can be very terrifying."

"Yeah, I kind of deserved it though," Leo replied, sitting down so Will could take a closer look at his nose. "I gotta _hand_ it to her, she really gave me a _fistful_."

Nico shook his head at the boy's lame puns, and Will attempted to hold back a snicker as he placed his palm over Leo's nose, similar to what he did with Nico's scratches.

"It's slightly broken, but it could have been worse. I can heal it, but it's going to hurt like hell."

Leo gripped his seat. "Psh, I think I can handle—HOLY SHIT OEDIPUS."

Nico smirked and leaned against the doorway. "You were saying?"

Will removed his hand and stood back, allowing Leo to feel his newly healed nose.

"What the hell was that?"

The son of Apollo shrugged. "Noses are complicated. Sorry about the pain."

"No, no, it's all good. What's a little agonizing pain before bed?" Leo stood up and headed out, eyeing the other two boys with a strange expression. "I'll, uh, leave you two to whatever you were doing before. Thanks for patching me up, Doc."

* * *

For the next week, Will began to take a random interest in Festus. He would constantly watch the mechanical dragon hang about the Hephaestus cabin and ponder about how that very mechanical dragon brought home a hero whom they all thought they had lost. Will and Leo weren't the closest of friends, but Leo visited the infirmary many times while building the _Argo II_ (despite his skills with tools, he had a nasty tendency of accidentally hammering his hand instead of the nails). However, Will's recent sentimentality wasn't really towards Leo; instead, it reminded him of another boy whose father's name also began with the letter "H" and who lingered so close to death. But Leo was alive, and if Leo could jump back from the edge of death, so could Nico di Angelo.

"You wanna take him for a ride?"

Will jumped at the sudden voice behind him, jerking him from his thoughts. He turned to see Leo standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"What?"

"You've been staring intently at Festus for the past ten minutes... not to mention this past week I've noticed you gazing at him every time you walk by." Leo chuckled. "I mean, I know he's a beautiful piece of machinery, and I too sometimes catch myself fondly looking at him, but I'm sure you have a different reason."

Will laughed softly. "Sorry, it- er, he- is just a reminder of something. A good something."

Leo nodded. "I see. So you wanna fly on him or no?"

The son of Apollo's eyes widened. "I don't think that's a good idea. I'm not a flyer... I've never even been on a plane before."

The son of Hephaestus scoffed. "Well, all the more reason to! Come on, consider this a payment for fixing my nose and the other injuries I obtained while building the _Argo II._"

Leo headed towards Festus, and after a bit of hesitation, Will followed.

"Are you sure about this?"

The other boy approached his dragon. "It'll be fun. Oooh, and you should take di Angelo with you! You guys are good friends, right?"

Will scratched his head. "Um, yeah, but-"

Nico chose that moment to exit his cabin and walk up to the two boys.

"Speak of the devil!" Leo grimaced. "Oops, that was poor terminology."

The son of Hades ignored that last comment. "What are you guys talking about?"

"I was just trying to convince Will here that he and you should go flying on Festus."

Nico raised his eyebrows and looked at Will, who shrugged. "It might be fun."

"Or potentially dangerous, especially considering the sky is Zeus' domain and I am me," Nico pointed out.

Leo waved it off. "That stuff is in the past." He pushed Will nearly into the side of the dragon. "Besides, everything for us is potentially dangerous. You gotta live a little!"

Will slowly climbed onto the dragon's back. Nico stared skeptically until Will held out his hand.

"Don't you trust me?" He asked with a smile.

Much to Leo's surprise, Nico sighed and took the outstretched hand, allowing himself to be pulled onto the dragon behind Will.

"Alright, Festus! Show them what it means to fly!"

Festus quickly stood up and took off from the ground, jolting the two boys on his back. Will's heart rate sped up as they increased altitude and the camp below grew smaller and smaller, but when he felt a pair of cold hands grip his shoulders, all of his fear melted away, giving him a chance to really appreciate the view and the feel of the wind blowing through his blonde curls.

"Isn't this amazing?" Will laughed and looked back to see how Nico was faring. He seemed a little tense as he gazed around.

"I guess!" Nico shouted over the wind.

"Oh come on, it's fantastic!" Will beamed. "WE'RE SOOAARING, FLYYYYING. THERE'S NOT A STAR IN HEAVEN THAT WE CAN'T REEEEEAACH. IF WE'RE TRYYYYING, YEAH WE'RE BREAKING FREEEEE."

"What are you doing?"

Will glanced back again. "I'm singing!"

"Is that what you call it?" Nico teased, relaxing some.

Will opened his mouth to respond, but his thoughts traveled back to what he was pondering before Leo approached him, and he forgot his reply. Instead he just watched Nico observe the scenery.

"Why are you staring at me?" The son of Hades eventually asked.

The son of Apollo blushed but met Nico's eyes nevertheless. "Don't die on me, Death Boy."

"I don't plan on it? I thought you said I was getting better."

"You are. I just mean for future reference, don't you dare die on me." Will paused. "I, uh, I'm also proud of how far you've come."

Nico's face reddened as well. "Um, thanks." He peered at Will. "What's gotten you all sentimental?"

Will shrugged. "I think sitting on a flying mechanical dragon while soaring through the air is the perfect time to be sentimental."

Nico couldn't help but smile at Will's stupid grin as he turned frontwards once again. The two flew in silence for a few minutes until Nico leaned forward.

"So how does that song go?"

Will beamed, and for the next ten minutes, the two sang, Will more enthusiastic and Nico very shyly. Needless to say, when Festus touched down and Leo greeted them, the son of Hephaestus was very surprised to see Nico di Angelo smiling rather brightly as he slid off the dragon's back.

* * *

**A/N: So my initial idea for this was "Leo comes back and Will feels super sentimental about his friendship with Nico as a result" and it kind of morphed into "Will and Nico fly on a mechanical dragon and sing a High School Musical song." Ah well, thanks for your continued support! **


	6. Trying New Things

**Wow, I already wrote another chapter? Yes, yes I did. Anyway, I had a lot of fun writing this one, and it's probably tied with Hawaiian Shirt as my favorite chapter so far. It's basically four short stories in one that all fall under the theme of trying new things (hence the title). Oh, and Will and Nico are together in it, so that's always fun. **

**I hope you enjoy! :) **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places related to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan (who used to live in the same city I do until he apparently moved to Boston, which kind of makes me sad...)**

* * *

Will Solace liked to try new things. Nico di Angelo, on the other hand, did not.

So when Will approached his boyfriend about morning yoga, he figured the answer would be a big, fat NO. And he was absolutely right.

"Why on earth and in Hades do you want to do yoga?" Nico asked incredulously.

Will shrugged and leaned against the doorway of the Hades cabin. "I don't know, I'm already up at the crack of dawn anyway. Plus, people say it's relaxing."

"Yeah, people who don't do yoga."

The son of Apollo chuckled. "Well, _I'm_ going to be on that hill," he gestured to the right, "tomorrow morning if you decide to join me!"

"I won't!" Nico called out as he watched Will head towards his own cabin.

Turns out Nico did join him, but not to actually participate in yoga. Instead, he figured watching (and laughing at) Will's attempts to do yoga would prove to be excellent entertainment. When he neared the designated hill, he wasn't surprised to find Will with his hands and feet on the ground and his butt in the air; however, he wasn't expecting to be greeting by Jason's butt as well.

Piper stood nearby, watching her boyfriend in amusement. "Hey, come to see the show?" She asked when Nico reached her.

"What is even going on here?" he questioned.

"Downward Facing Dog," Jason responded in a strained voice. "It's a struggle."

Piper laughed. "For you maybe, but Nico and I sure are enjoying the view." Jason glanced up at his girlfriend, who promptly winked.

"Don't objectify us," Will teased, and the two boys moved their bottoms until they held a pose that was the inverse of their last one. Nico assumed this was called "Upward Facing Dog."

"So Jason, why exactly are _you_ doing yoga?" Nico asked as he observed the son of Jupiter.

"I've been so stressed lately with all these shrines and the shit ton of minor gods and goddesses that I never knew existed!" Jason peered at Nico with wide eyes. "Do you know what it's like to wake up in agony because you accidentally pissed off the goddess of labor pains?"

Piper crossed her arms. "No, but funny enough, I think I can imagine."

Jason grimaced. "Oh, right. Sorry."

Nico watched as the yoga participants changed poses once more so that they were curled up in a ball with their arms outstretched. "That doesn't seem too hard," he commented. "You guys look like armadillos though."

"It's called the Hare Pose," came a muffled response from Jason. "And it's not that difficult."

Will poked his head up. "I don't know, Jason. I don't think they can handle it."

Piper scoffed. "Oh, we can handle it."

"Then prove it."

Nico and Piper exchanged glances before accepting the challenge and planting themselves down beside the other boys in the so-called "Hare Pose."

"Piece of cake," Nico said, with his face smooshed against the ground.

And that is the story of how the son of Hades did yoga for the first time.

* * *

"Absolutely not."

"Oh come on, Death Boy, just try it!"

"I am not putting that anywhere near my mouth."

Nico knew he brought this on himself. He should have just stayed quiet when Will mentioned that the most exotic food he ever had was escargot. He shouldn't have then proceeded to ask what escargot was, and he definitely shouldn't have sounded so disgusted when he learned that escargot was a dish of cooked snails.

So he really wasn't all that surprised to see the cooked snail hovering near his face on a fork, and he most certainly wasn't surprised that it was his boyfriend's hand that held said fork.

Will sighed. "What are you so afraid of?"

Nico eyed the snail suspiciously. "That if I eat it, Death Boy won't just be a nickname."

"You're so dramatic," Will said with a playful smile before stuffing the snail into his own mouth.

Nico scrunched up his nose as he watched Will chew.

"I don't get it," Will began after he swallowed the snail. "You hang out with skeletons and dead people, yet you think a simple cooked snail is the most disgusting thing in the world."

"But I don't _eat_ skeletons or dead people," Nico pointed out.

"Well, I hope not." Will laughed at Nico's unamused face before giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. "How about this: if you eat one and hate it, I'll… clean your cabin for you."

Nico pondered his proposition. "Fine. Give me a damn snail."

Will scooped up another snail from his bowl and handed the fork to the son of Hades, who promptly closed his eyes and shoved the thing into his mouth. The son of Apollo waited impatiently for the verdict since he was unable to read Nico's facial expression.

"Well?"

Nico stared straight into Will's eyes. "That was awful."

The truth was, however, that Nico actually did enjoy the escargot, but as he watched Will clean his cabin later in the day, he resolved to never, ever admit it to anyone.

* * *

Karaoke night in the Apollo cabin wasn't exactly Nico's idea of a fun time. At least he thought it wouldn't be.

The one time he and Will decided to hang out in the bright and sunny cabin just so happened to be the night the Apollo kids designated for singing lame jams into a microphone (Will swore he forgot about their plans, but Nico knew he was lying).

"Karaoke night?" Nico glared at his boyfriend after Kayla announced into her newly plugged in microphone that it was about to begin. Will just grinned. "I guess I'll be going now."

Nico made to stand up, but Will quickly placed his hand on the other boy's shoulder and pushed him back down.

"Oh no you don't. We made plans to hang out here tonight, and that's what we're going to do!" Nico opened his mouth to protest, but Will continued. "Besides, it won't be that bad. Most of us are pretty decent singers."

"I hope you weren't including yourself in that, Sunshine."

Will laughed and pulled Nico against his chest. "Just for that insult, you're definitely not going anywhere."

Nico sighed as the karaoke party began. The Apollo kids performed a wide range of songs, from Disney songs to show tunes to current pop hits—basically a whole bunch of songs the son of Hades wasn't familiar with. Throughout the evening, Nico found himself smiling, then he found himself swaying along to some of the songs, and he eventually found himself with a microphone in hand, singing "Eye of the Tiger" with Will and a small group of Apollo boys.

Of course, as he left the cabin later that night, he glared at everyone and warned them not to say a word about his participation in the karaoke party. Naturally, the whole camp knew the following day, and Nico gave up trying to deny it, but he absolutely refused to do an encore performance for Jason and Percy.

The reason they wanted an encore wasn't just because it seemed so outrageous that Nico and karaoke would even appear in the same sentence; the fact was that everyone in the Apollo cabin agreed that Nico di Angelo had, without a doubt, a fantastic voice.

* * *

Nico could (reluctantly) agree to yoga, he could agree to escargot, and he could even agree to karaoke, but there was a line, and the son of Hades absolutely, one hundred percent put his foot down at _swing dancing_.

He didn't know whose idea it was to add swing dancing to the camp activities or why Chiron even approved it (apparently some campers explained how it was a good aerobic workout and could improve upon combat training). Will, of course, was all for it.

"Swing dancing sounds like fun!" he had told Nico when the news first came about, to which Nico replied, "Yeah, and so does taking Cerberus for a walk."

When the day of the first swing lesson arrived, Will tried to convince Nico one last time as he excitedly walked towards Cabin Two.

"I seriously think you would have a great time"

"I seriously doubt that."

"Come on, Death Boy, live life on the edge!"

"My life has been on the edge many times, and believe me, swing dancing is nowhere near that edge."

Will stopped in front of Hera's cabin. "So why are you still following me?"

Nico crossed his arms and smirked. "Just because I don't want to dance doesn't mean I don't want to watch you make a fool of yourself."

Will scoffed and entered the cabin, with Nico right behind him. As he found a spot against the wall, the son of Hades peered around, surprised to see so many campers there.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" A voice called from the opposite side of the room. Nico looked to see a girl about fifteen (he guessed she was from the Athena cabin) and Castor from the Dionysus cabin standing on an elevated platform.

When the room quieted down, the girl continued. "First, I'd like to thank Hera for graciously allowing us to use her sacred space."

As several campers muttered a "thanks", a random kid shouted out, "Elizabeth, you know how to swing dance?"

The girl, Elizabeth, smiled. "Don't act so surprised. When Athena emerged fully armored from Zeus' head, the first thing she did was some crazy warrior dance." Other campers nodded in approval. "Anyway, let's begin! Everyone needs to find a partner!"

Nico watched as Will paired up with Miranda Gardiner.

"Looks like you're stuck with me." Nico turned to see Lou Ellen leaning against the wall next to him.

"I'm not here to dance," he hastily replied.

Lou Ellen raised her eyebrows. "Then why are you here? Everyone else is paired up, and I want to learn some swing dancing, so by the wrath of Hecate you will be my partner."

She grabbed Nico's arm, and that's how he spent the next hour doing the one thing he thought for sure he wouldn't get himself into.

Later that evening, Will insisted on practicing the moves they learned in the first lesson with Nico.

"Di Angelo, you know you're stuck as Lou Ellen's dancing partner for the rest of your time at Camp Half-Blood, so you might as well just face your destiny and practice with me." Will pecked him on the cheek.

Nico sighed, taking Will's hand. "Fine."

When the two finally did a continuous swing maneuver seamlessly, they stopped dancing, only to be greeted by the sound of clapping. Behind them stood Percy and Annabeth with silly grins on their faces.

Nico blushed. "How long have you been watching us?"

Percy shrugged. "A while. Can you do that move again?"

Nico began to shake his head, but Will grabbed him and swung him around.

"Wow," Percy said in awe. "Hey Annabeth, why can't we do something like that?"

Annabeth gave him a strange look. "You wanna learn swing dancing, Seaweed Brain?"

"Kinda…"

Annabeth wrapped her arm around Percy's waist. "Well," she answered, addressing Nico and Will. "I guess we'll be seeing you two in class then." And with that, the couple turned and walked away.

After they left, Will nudged his boyfriend. "So you still think swing dancing is horrible?"

Nico gazed up at the son of Apollo.

Maybe, just maybe, trying new things wasn't always a bad idea.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, I came up with the swing dancing idea because last year at Thespian Convention, my girl tech friends and I coerced our two best guy friends to take a swing dance class with us, and it was highly entertaining. I hope this was entertaining for you to read though!**


	7. Apollo's Second Punishment

**Hey there! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed this... Your kind words make me so happy and just cannot tell you how much it means to me (I literally have a folder of emails titled "motivation" where I keep the review alerts). And thank you to those of you who keep reading this even though I have no idea what I'm doing sometimes! **

**Anyway, my college finals start next week, so I don't know when I will update again. Hopefully it'll be within the week, but I can't make any promises. **

**Oh, and in this chapter Will and Nico have been together for a while. **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"Will Solace, can I have a word with you?"

Will and Nico had been about to leave the dining pavilion after breakfast when Chiron stopped them.

"Um sure, Chiron. What's up?"

Chiron appeared uncomfortable as he searched for the right words. "There's something I need to alert you of. As you know, Zeus' punishment for Apollo has remained a mystery to us, but the Oracle of Delphi and any foresight abilities of your siblings have not been working the past six months."

Will nodded uncertainly. "Yeah..."

"Well," Chiron continued, "the gods have informed me that Zeus is about to put forth the second stage of Apollo's punishment."

"Second stage-" Will's eyes widened as the realization clicked into place. "Oh no."

Chiron patted the son of the aforementioned god on the shoulder. "I just thought you should be aware before-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence because at that moment a bright light began to shine over the Apollo table. Everyone nearby looked away (especially Jason, who did not want a repeat of what happened with Hera), and after the light faded, they turned to see Apollo himself standing on his own cabin's table, striking an outrageous modeling pose.

"He's early," Chiron muttered, leaving Will and Nico behind and racing towards the newly arrived god to greet him.

Apollo gazed excitedly down at the campers sitting at his table. "Look at my children! Kayla, Austin- Chiron!" He leapt off the table and landed in front of the centaur. "Did you guys know that I was actually his foster parent? I taught him everything he knows!"

Chiron attempted to not look embarrassed. "Lord Apollo, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. We look forward to having you as our new camp director."

At a table across the pavilion, Percy stood up. "Wait, so you mean Mr. D isn't our director anymore?" Chiron nodded, and Percy's face lit up with undeniable glee.

Nico glanced up at his boyfriend, who remained frozen where Chiron left him. His face was definitely not one of undeniable glee.

Will instead looked like he was going to vomit. "Fuck me," he whispered as he watched his father.

"If you insist."

"What did you just say?"

Nico's face reddened. "I said... well, schist."

Before Will could respond, Apollo strutted over to where they were standing, and Nico noticed that he appeared older in physical appearance than the last time they met.

"Will!" The god exclaimed, holding up his fist for Will to reluctantly bump with his own. "Isn't this going to be fun?! Me as your camp director! Don't worry, I won't be as boring as old Dionysus was. For the god with all the best festivals in his honor, he sure was a real snoozefest, amiright?"

A small squeaking noise was all Will managed to answer with, but that didn't faze his father.

"And to think, Zeus actually calls this a punishment! You have no idea how happy I am to be here. I've spent six months doing _chores! _It was horrible! There's only so many times you can sweep Olympus before you want to take the broom and shove it up your- Nico di Angelo!" The god finally realized who was standing next to Will. "Long time, no see, little man!"

Nico grimaced as Apollo ruffled his hair.

"Anyway, Chiron wants to go over some 'protocols' or something," Apollo mimed finger quotations in the air, "so I'll see you boys very soon! I look forward to spending some quality time with you, Will!"

And with that, the god sauntered away. Nico peeked up at Will and had to stifle a laugh when he saw that Will looked as if he was about to either pass out or cry... or a combination of both.

* * *

"I can't believe this is happening," Will said not even an hour later while lying face down on the rug in the Hades cabin.

Nico sat on the ground beside his boyfriend, propped up against his bed.

"You know, it really isn't that bad," he commented, amused by Will's humiliation.

"Explain."

"Well, at least he seems enthusiastic about being here."

Will lifted his head. "A little too enthusiastic."

Nico laughed. "Since when is someone too enthusiastic for Will Solace?"

The other boy just plopped his head back down on the floor in response.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Okay sure, he's slightly embarrassing," Will made strange noise at the word 'slightly', "but I'm pretty sure all the gods- you know what, I'm actually not going to finish that sentence."

"But Nico, it's easy for you to say when _your _father isn't camp director."

The son of Hades crossed his arms. "If my father was director, this camp would run smoothly and efficiently. Camp would be a piece of cake compared to the Underworld."

Will sighed. "This just isn't how I pictured meeting my father."

"I'm sure it isn't, but honestly, that whole exchange wasn't as bad as I expected it to be."

"It's only day one," Will replied into the rug.

"Look, Sunshine, he's here now, and all you can do is use this as an opportunity to get to know your father. Making the most of any situation is the Apollo way, right?"

Will slowly crawled towards Nico and plopped down beside him. "I suppose." The son of Apollo leaned his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Well, isn't this ironic?"

"Huh?"

"You're the one who's being optimistic. It's quite unlike you," Will teased.

Nico scrunched his nose. "Gods, I know. It's exhausting."

Will smacked his arm playfully. "But greatly appreciated," he said before kissing Nico.

"You know, you look a lot like your father," Nico pointed out when they broke apart.

"You noticed that too?" Will replied with wide eyes. "It was so strange, like looking at a somewhat older version of myself."

"Speaking of which, he also looks older." Will peered at his boyfriend questioningly. "The first time I met him," Nico continued, "his appearance matched that of a seventeen year old surfer dude. He could actually pass as twenty-one now."

Will considered that observation for a moment. "Maybe that's part of his punishment?"

"Good observation, son!"

The two boys jumped up to see the cabin door open, revealing Apollo in the doorway.

"Apollo, sir! How'd you get in here?" Nico asked.

Apollo glanced back at the door. "The door was unlocked. Anyway, yes, Zeus told me I have to look as if I can legally drink alcohol, which is lame because I'm three thousand years old. Who wants to look three thousand years old?!" He then added, "Oh, and Nico, don't call me 'sir'! That's so... old sounding."

The god sat in an armchair and peered around at the surroundings. Will and Nico glanced at each other before planting themselves down on the edge of Nico's bed.

"Why is everything so dark in here?" Apollo commented. Even though the Hades cabin had been redecorated since the Giant War and no longer looked like Count Dracula's lair, the décor still matched Nico's taste in black.

"Because I'm a son of Hades."

"That doesn't mean everything around you has to be super glum!" Apollo exclaimed. "Have you ever considered adding some yellow hyacinths around the cabin?"

Nico blinked. "Um, no, I hadn't considered it."

The god nodded slowly. "Well, you should. But I didn't come here to give you some interior decorating tips. I actually came here to- you know, some yellow curtains would really brighten this place up and-"

"Dad! You said you had a reason for coming here?" It was the first time Will spoke to his father, and the word 'dad' felt foreign on his tongue.

"Ah yes, back to my point." Apollo clapped his hands and leaned in earnestly towards the boys. "Now, you two have been dating for some time now, and as Will's father, I believe it is my duty to give you _the talk."_

The two boys' eyes widened.

"That, uh, that really isn't necessary," Will stammered.

"Oh nonsense!" Apollo said, cutting him off. "Listen, when two people care about each other, they begin to feel urges." Will placed his face in his hands. "And quite frankly, I am very disappointed that you haven't acted on these urges, Will!"

Will uncovered his face. "Huh?"

"Yes! Nico is still only wearing black, and I am surprised that you haven't encouraged him to add more color to his wardrobe!"

Nico stared at Apollo. "Wait, what?"

The god gestured to Nico. "This boy would look fabulous in green! So Will, my son, the next time you feel the urge to put your boyfriend in a green shirt, do not hesitate to shove it on his body!"

Will suddenly burst out laughing as Nico smiled in relief. "So _the talk _is just about my wardrobe choices?"

Apollo stood up. "Yes, I feel this was a conversation we all really needed to have." He glanced warily at his son. "Why, what did you think I was going to talk about?"

Will managed to control his laughter. "We just thought you were going to give us 'the birds and the bees' talk."

Apollo looked confused before pointing seriously at Nico. "You mean to tell me that Nico doesn't know what bird and bees are? Okay, so birds are these winged creatures with feathers-"

"No, Dad," Will interrupted him. "Nico knows what birds and bees are. It's nothing."

The god smiled. "Oh, then my work here is done! I'll see you boys around! Have fun." He winked at them before heading out the door.

As soon as Apollo was gone, Will slid to the floor and returned to his previous position of face down on the rug.

Nico chuckled. "Okay, so maybe 'slightly embarrassing' was a bit of an understatement."

* * *

**A/N: So I know that the whole Apollo being the new camp director as punishment is done a lot, but I honestly believe that this would be Apollo's punishment. It just seems like the most probable outcome. **


	8. The Worst Pies in London

**I am officially done with my first year of college! Woo!**

**In other news, this chapter is before Nico and Will get together, and it's not super fluffy in a romantic way. It's just them doing something with Percy, but I thought it was a cute idea, and I had fun writing it, which is the important part.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places related to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"I just don't understand why Disney seemed to think that my father is some blue creature with fiery hair."

Will chuckled at the boy beside him. "I don't know, Death Boy. I wasn't part of the concept meeting."

Nico scrunched up his face. "It doesn't make any sense. I'm fairly certain that no myth describes him like that."

Before Will could respond, there was a knock on the Hades cabin door, and both boys were surprised when Nico opened the door to see Percy standing there with a pink contraption in his hands.

"Hey, Nico! Have you seen Jason?"

"He and Leo left earlier to go to Camp Jupiter," Nico replied.

Percy looked shocked. "They left without saying goodbye to me?! How rude."

Nico rolled his eyes. "You've been at your mom's apartment, Jackson."

The son of Poseidon ignored that comment and peered further inside. "Hey, Will!"

Will waved. "Hiya, Percy." He then noticed what Percy was holding and broke into a knowing grin. "Is that... Is that an Easy Bake Oven?"

Percy smiled stupidly. "Indeed it is, my friend, indeed it is."

"What's an Easy Bake Oven?" Nico asked, confused at the other boys' reactions to the contraption.

"The ability to make tiny cakes and cookies," Will said. "Have you ever made tiny cakes? I've heard they're better than regular cakes."

Nico raised his eyebrow. "How are they better if they're tiny? It's just less cake."

Percy shook his head. "No, they're better. I swear, every girl in elementary school had one of these, and I cannot tell you how badly I secretly wanted one."

Will nodded. "Right?! And now you have one!" Suddenly he peered at the oven suspiciously. "Wait a second. Please tell me you didn't steal this from a little girl."

"Of course not!" Percy exclaimed. "I, uh, took it from a little girl's trash."

"Percy!"

"What? I was taking my mom's trash to the dumpster, and it happened to be sitting in it with some of the dessert mixes inside! I couldn't pass up this opportunity."

Will chuckled. "I guess that's okay. How do you even know it works?"

Percy grinned mischievously. "Shall we find out?" He gestured his head towards his own cabin.

The son of Apollo nodded eagerly. "You coming, di Angelo?"

"Uh..."

"Yes, you're coming." Will grabbed Nico by the wrist and dragged him out the door.

* * *

Nico had to admit, sitting in the Poseidon cabin watching his former crush and current crush live out their strange childhood fantasy was an interesting experience for him.

"Well," Will said as he pulled out the two packets of mixes, "I don't need to ask you which one you want to make."

One was a confetti cake mix and the other was for blueberry muffins. Percy pointed, although it wasn't necessary to, at the blueberry muffin mix.

Nico eyed the packets. "Um, are you sure those are still safe to eat?"

Percy shrugged. "I'm sure it's fine."

Will, however, glanced at the mix nervously. "I don't know… There's no expiration date on here."

"This can't be _that_ old," Percy commented. "Besides, these mixes are made to last a really long time, aren't they?"

"I guess," the son of Apollo pondered. "But that's gonna suck if we get food poisoning. Plus imagine the irony if the camp's primary healer is bedridden and vomiting up his internal organs."

Nico snickered. "That would be a sight to see."

"Eh, a little food poisoning will toughen up our stomachs." Percy grabbed a bowl and dumped the contents of the packet.

The three boys took turns stirring the ingredients (Nico was a little less enthusiastic about it than the other two) until the mixture looked ready.

"And now for the final touch." Percy walked away for a moment and came back with a small bottle of blue food coloring in his hands, which he promptly added to the bowl.

Will stared. "There are already blueberries in it…"

"But that's not enough."

Nico pointed at the bottle. "Jackson, you seriously keep blue food coloring in your cabin?"

The son of Poseidon poured the mixture into a tiny pan. "Hey, there are way worse things I could keep in here."

He handed the bowl to Will, who filled his own small pan. Nico looked at the pan in front of him.

"I still don't see how this is better than a normal sized dessert."

Will held out the bowl. "Just wait, Death Boy." Nico accepted the bowl, but as he grabbed it, his fingers slightly grazed those of Will, taking him by surprise. His heart fluttered and he would have dropped the bowl had the son of Apollo not caught it in time. "Whoa there, you got it?"

"Yes, I'm fully capable of holding a damn bowl," Nico snapped, his words coming out a bit harsher than he intended.

Will didn't seem fazed though. "Are you sure about that?" He teased, nudging his elbow against Nico's arm.

Nico focused on filling up his pan, trying to shake off his sudden overreaction.

"So what do we do now?" he asked, after the three pans were in the oven.

"We wait," Will said, "It shouldn't be too long."

He was right, and soon the boys were admiring the three blueberry muffins before them.

"My friends, look at what we made," Percy held up his muffin. "We are officially master chefs now. No one can surpass our skills."

They each carefully took a large bite of their muffin and began to chew, but after a few seconds, they all caught each other's eyes and immediately spit it out. Percy ran into his bathroom and directed the sink water into his mouth while Nico furiously wiped his tongue with a napkin and Will remained staring at his half eaten muffin with a look of utter betrayal on his face.

"Oh gods, that was terrible!" Percy exclaimed as he stepped out of the bathroom. "This is the end for us."

Nico stopped rubbing his tongue. "There are worse ways to go, I guess."

Will kept his eyes fixed on the muffin. "These are probably the worst pies in London."

The son of Hades and the son of Poseidon stared at him in confusion.

"These are muffins…"

"We're not in London…"

Will finally looked up. "Oh no, it was a reference. You know, Sweeney Todd? Demon Barber of Fleet Street?"

Nico furrowed his eyebrows. "Is that a friend of yours?"

"No, it's a musical—never mind, the point is, I have never tasted anything that awful in my entire life."

Percy picked up the discarded muffin. "So apparently they don't last as long as we thought."

Nico glared at him. "You think? Oh wait, but 'a little food poisoning will toughen our stomachs,' right?"

Percy grimaced and peered around at the mess they made from their cooking adventures gone horribly wrong. "We should probably clean this up."

Will and Nico exchanged looks. "Actually," Will stood up, "my shift at the infirmary is about to start."

"Yeah," Nico rose as well, "I have, uh, sword training to get to."

"Wait, you're just gonna leave me with this mess by myself?" Percy called out after them when they were almost out the door.

Nico smirked and waved in response. Once outside, Will began to laugh.

"That'll teach me for trying to live a silly childhood dream." He patted Nico on the shoulder. "Sorry for subjecting you to that torture."

The son of Hades felt a pink tint creep to his face. "I've dealt with greater threats than poisonous muffins. But yeah, sometimes childhoods dreams end rather horribly."

Will chuckled. "I see that now. Anyway, I'll meet up with you later."

Nico watched Will walk towards the infirmary, musing about how he used to wish that his Mythomagic cards would come to life. Yep, childhood fantasies definitely don't turn out how you expect them to.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading!**


	9. Lovely Ladies

**This chapter is officially my favorite chapter so far. **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Nico wasn't sure how he got himself into this situation.

No, actually, he knew exactly how it happened and that it was all Percy Jackson's fault. Then again, Nico was partly to blame because he made the stupid decision to side with Percy and the rest of the guys; if there's one thing Nico learned, it's that you should never _ever_ bet against Annabeth.

Yet he did. A week prior Annabeth and Percy had been teasing each other about which one of them would win a chariot race, and suddenly Piper and Jason got into it, followed by Leo and Calypso, then Hazel and Frank, who were visiting Camp Half-Blood with Reyna. Before Nico knew it, the conflict had turned into an actual bet between the guys and girls, and he found himself roped into the guys' team by his own boyfriend. So by the end of that conversation, the girls' team, led by Annabeth and consisting of Piper, Hazel, Calypso, and Reyna, and the guys' team, led by Percy and including Jason, Leo, Frank, Will, and Nico, parted ways to work on their respective chariots.

Nico at first felt comfortable with the team. Sure, all the girls were incredibly intimidating and could definitely whoop his ass, but Leo could build some insane gadgets and Frank could turn into a horse (which he did), so Nico wasn't too worried. That is, until the girls added their sixth contributor to even out the teams: Clarisse.

When the day of the race came and the two chariots took off around the track, Nico immediately knew they were doomed. He was right, of course, and although it was a pretty close race, the girls were victorious. Nico was fine with losing because helping with the chariot was actually kind of fun, but then he remembered that this whole ordeal was a _bet_, as in the girls now got to select the punishment for the guys.

And that is how the fearsome son of Hades, who never donned anything besides black, ended up peeking out his cabin window while wearing a lavender Greek style dress with sandals.

A small knock on the door pulled him from the window.

"Hey, Nico, you in here?" Will poked his head in, which now featured a blonde wig that cascaded to the ground. He stepped into the cabin when he saw Nico standing by the window, looking utterly miserable. "Or I guess I should say, _Megara_."

Nico took in the sight of his boyfriend in a dress that had a pink corset and pink sleeves with a long purple skirt attached. Both boys couldn't help but burst into laughter at each other.

"Hello to you too, Rapunzel," Nico said. He then realized something. "Wait, how did you get here?"

Will scrunched his eyebrows. "Um, I walked? Even without shoes, I can still do that."

"No, but," Nico pointed to the window, "There are people out there."

"Yeah," Will nodded. "And they saw me. You know you can't hide in here all day. Our punishment is to go about our day as Disney princesses, and you can bet that one of the girls is on their way now to drag you to breakfast."

"Megara isn't even technically a princess," Nico muttered.

Will shrugged. "She's an honorary one. And she's the only Disney lady that fits you best. She's sassy, sarcastic, and worked for Hades." He carefully fixed a strap on Nico's dress that had fallen out of place.

Before Nico could make his usual comment that his father isn't blue, the door swung open to reveal Reyna standing there with her arms crossed. Her eyes scanned over the two boys' outfits, and Nico could tell she was highly amused, even if she didn't outright laugh at them (although he noticed the corner of her mouth curve slightly upward as if she was trying hard to hold it in).

"I've come to retrieve you. The others are already at the dining pavilion."

The look she gave them told Nico that it was useless to protest. Will grabbed his hand and the two followed Reyna across camp. Nico tried to ignore all the stares they were getting and focus on his boyfriend's warm hand in his, but that became increasingly difficult until they reached the pavilion and saw the four other boys standing next to their girlfriends. He had to physically place his free hand over his mouth to prevent himself from breaking into uncontrollable laughter at the sight before him. He noticed Will making a strange face to contain his laughter as well.

Nico stood beside his sister who was fixing Frank's sleeve of his traditional Chinese dress. When she saw her brother, Hazel smiled and waved.

"Of course, you would give me the only Chinese princess," Frank commented.

Hazel kissed his cheek. "Sorry, there aren't any Canadian princesses." She placed a magnolia blossom clip in his hair, which was difficult considering how short it was. "That's not the only reason though. Mulan became a great warrior and learned to accept herself for who she was, just like you did."

Frank smiled at her as Jason clapped him on the back. "See, yours makes perfect sense. Mine does not." He gestured to his own pink evening gown with triangular sleeves. "I mean, yes, Aurora and I are both blonde, but I don't sleep for long periods of time."

Nico smirked. "Weren't you knocked unconscious quite a few times during your quest and the Giant War?"

Jason blinked at Nico. "Now is not the time to be a little shit, _Meg._"

The son of Hades scoffed as Will bent down and whispered in his ear. "At least you don't have it as bad as Percy does."

Nico silently agreed. The son of Poseidon's costume was by far the most embarrassing. He wore a purple seashell bra, a green mermaid skirt, and a bright red wig.

Percy noticed them staring and sighed. "Go ahead, laugh it up."

"I think it's a good look for you," Nico managed to say with a straight face. "Ariel is very fitting."

"Unlike your bra." Will reached over and tugged at the seashell bra that kept sliding off of Percy's chest.

Annabeth stood nearby, shaking with laughter.

"You gotta admit," Leo broke in, "Annabeth's siblings did a fantastic job weaving these costumes. I mean, this looks great on my body." He peered at his turquoise puffy pants and crop top usually worn by Princess Jasmine. "Plus, check this out." He set a contraption on the ground, and Nico realized it was a magic carpet. No, not a magic carpet, but a piece of carpet that he added parts to, but Leo quickly confirmed that it could fly as he zipped around in the air.

Will wrapped his arm around Nico. "See? This isn't so bad."

Nico surveyed the pavilion. Pretty much every camper was still staring at them, and Clarisse was laughing like a maniac with her siblings.

Will seemed to read his mind. "They're gonna stare and laugh, but they'll get bored after a few hours. Now come on," he addressed the whole group. "Princesses, too, need three meals a day."

Sure enough, Will was right. By mid-day, most of the other campers stopped acting shocked at the presence of six Disney princesses in their camp. As part of the punishment, the boys had to continue with their day like normal, which meant Nico and Will found themselves aiming at targets on the archery range in their long dresses.

Will, despite not having quite the talent for the bow as some of his other siblings, could still sometimes shoot above-average, except today he struggled due to his floor-length wig getting in the way.

Nico watched his boyfriend. "You know, that wig's gonna get in the way during your infirmary shift later."

"No it's not because this is healing hair."

"Oh, okay," Nico matched Will's sarcastic tone.

Will placed his bow down and rubbed his neck. "This wig is so heavy though. And hot. I can practically feel puddles of sweat on my scalp.

"Now _that_ is super sexy."

"You're right," Will grabbed Nico's arm and pulled him close. "I am sexy." In the process, Nico's dress strap slipped, leaving his shoulder bare. Will eyed it. "Is it weird to say that I'm slightly turned on by that?"

"Yes, it is."

Will shrugged. "I've always been a little weird," he purred as he crashed his lips into Nico's. The son of Hades tangled his hands in Will's wig (haha no pun intended), and they would have kept going if a noise from beside them hadn't spiked their curiosity.

The two turned to see a ten year old girl with a bow in her hand staring at them. Nico remembered that she was a new camper from the Demeter cabin. As soon as she realized they were looking at her, she dropped her bow and ran.

Will began to laugh harder than he probably should have. "Oh gods, she just caught Megara and Rapunzel making out!"

Nico's eyes widened. "We probably just ruined her childhood."

"Oh please, we _improved_ it," Will said as he leaned in once more.

* * *

**A/N: The image of Percy dressed as Ariel keeps making me laugh way too hard. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one! :)**


	10. Nico's Helping Hand

**Apparently you guys liked that last chapter as much as I did! Thank you all so much for the positive responses! **

**Also, I'm re-reading the original Percy Jackson books because I haven't read them in 6-7 years, and I realize that I totally wrote that Castor was alive in the Trying New Things chapter when he actually died in the Battle of the Labyrinth. Whoopsies. It's not that big a deal though, so I won't bother going back and editing it.**

**Anyway, in this chapter, Will and Nico are not yet together, but are mega flirting it up (which is always a fun time).**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Will smiled at the kid sitting in front of him. "There ya go. All better!" The kid, a ten year old boy from the Hermes cabin, peered at his healed arm, which had sported a gross-looking burn ten minutes ago. "You gotta be careful with those climbing walls. That lava is very tricky to avoid."

The kid nodded and thanked Will before exiting the infirmary. Just as he passed through the door, two other people walked in, and Will beamed (perhaps a little too brightly) when he saw that one of those people was a certain son of Hades.

"Special delivery," Nico said, gesturing to the Lou Ellen, who stood beside him with an ice pack over her eye.

Will sighed. "What did you do now, Lou?"

"I won a bet." Lou Ellen planted herself down on one of the beds.

"You won?"

"Some victories come with a price," she answered matter-of-factly.

Will looked at Nico for clarification. "She bet Cecil that she was better at breakdancing than he was."

The son of Apollo looked back at Lou Ellen. "He kicked you in the face, didn't he?"

She lowered the ice pack, revealing a red mark around her eye. "Yep."

"So where is Cecil?" Will asked as he shined a small light into her eye.

"He ran," Lou Ellen replied with a smirk. "And rightly so. Nico was nice enough escort me to you, but I know it's only because he secretly enjoys it here."

"You know I can hear you!" Nico said from the corner of the room. Lou Ellen gave him a knowing grin, and Will noticed his pale face gain a slight tint of pink.

"Death Boy, don't deny that you love hanging out with me!" Will's stomach fluttered when Nico's face turned pinker still. The son of Hades remained silent. "Anyway, Lou, I don't think you've suffered any real damage, except for the bruise that's beginning to form. Bruises are tough to deal with since they're under the skin, but I can try to minimize it."

Lou Ellen shook her head. "Nah, let it be. I want Cecil to be reminded every day until it heals that he is not, nor will he ever be, safe from my revenge." She cracked her knuckles loudly.

Will took a step back. "Okay, just don't kick him in the face. He's a lot more fragile than you are." The daughter of Hecate scoffed. "I do want to keep you here for the night to be absolutely positive that you don't have a concussion."

Lou Ellen shrugged and leaned back on the bed. Out of the corner of his eye, Will caught sight of Nico disappearing into the next room.

"Hey Kayla, keep an eye on her for me, will you?"

His sister nodded, and Will followed Nico's path. When he entered the room, he saw Nico sitting on the edge of a counter, swinging his legs back and forth.

"You didn't deny it."

Nico looked up. "Huh?"

Will leaned against the doorframe. "You didn't deny that you love hanging out with me."

"Eh, you don't totally suck."

The son of Apollo dramatically placed his hand over his heart. "Aw, di Angelo, I'm touched."

Nico attempted to playfully kick him, but Will was too far from his reach.

"Nice try," Will laughed. "So are you gonna stick around and help me?"

"And do what exactly?" Nico fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I'm not much help around here since, you know," he pointed at himself, "Death Boy."

Will clapped his hand on Nico's shoulder. "Are you kidding me? Who else is better suited to clean out the skeletons in our closet?" Nico just stared at him as the blond boy smiled.

"You have a sick sense of humor, Solace."

"Hey, at least I have a sense of humor."

Nico rolled his eyes, but Will could see a trace of amusement on his face.

"In all seriousness though," Will continued, "You could organize this medicine cabinet." He walked towards the cabinet in the corner of the room and opened it. "With the two wars and everything, it's gotten a little chaotic."

Nico looked inside at the plethora of bottles in a variety of shapes and sizes. "Damn, what is all this stuff?"

"Mostly Ancient Greek herbal concoctions and healing salves created by Asclepius himself and—DO NOT DROP THAT!"

Nico froze. He had accidentally knocked a red bottle the size of his hand off one of the shelves but managed to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Sorry, but if you drop that," Will warned, "You'll have a ton of girls on your bad side."

"Why, what's it for?" Nico peered at the bottle.

"Menstrual cramps."

"Oh." Nico's cheeks matched the color of the bottle as he carefully replaced it on the shelf. "Maybe I'm not the best person for this. I should probably just go."

He made his way towards the doorway, but Will grabbed him by the hand and yanked him back just as he passed into the first room, causing Nico to lose his footing and stumble right into the other boy's chest. Will gripped him tightly by the shoulders, and Nico thought the son of Apollo was going to scold him. Instead Will's soft blue eyes met Nico's dark eyes.

"Please don't go," Will said softly. Nico attempted to form a complete response, but he was incredibly aware of the mere eight inches between their faces.

"Um, Will?" The two boys looked at Lou Ellen, who was pointing at two new visitors. Nico's face turned a brighter shade of crimson, if possible, when he saw Piper and Jason standing there. The right side of Jason's face was all bloody, but they both seemed focused on the sight before them.

Piper attempted to suppress a smile. "Are we interrupting something?"

"No!" Nico responded a little too quickly.

Will, however, didn't appear embarrassed at all as he let go of Nico's shoulders and transitioned into doctor mode. "Nico, go get a rag from that cabinet over there and run it under warm water."

As Nico obliged, Will led Jason to the nearest bed. Blood was oozing from his cheek, and his skin seemed to get paler by the second.

"What happened?"

"I was working on a shrine to Eris," Jason began. Nico returned with the wet rag, and Will started to dab his cheek.

"Can you get another rag and this time wet it with cold water? Jason, continue if you can."

Jason grimaced. "I was just working on the shrine, and I got hit…" He trailed off in embarrassment.

Will looked at Piper. "With what?"

"He got whacked in the face with a brick."

"Again?" Nico asked, somewhat amused, as he handed the cold rag to Will.

Jason glared at him. "It's not funny! It came out of nowhere, literally!"

Will placed the cold rag on Jason's forehead as he continued to clean the wound. "Nico, can you make sure that rag doesn't fall? So Jason, you pissed off Eris."

"I guess she didn't agree with my design plans."

Nico stood by Jason's side with his hand on the rag. "She really lives up to her role as the goddess of discord."

Jason nodded his head the best he could. "But I'm fine though."

Will set down the warm rag. "You've lost a lot of blood in your face already." He held his palm over the bloody wound and muttered in Ancient Greek. After about thirty seconds, Will took away his hand, revealing a faded scar.

"Is he going to live, Doc?" Nico questioned in mock seriousness.

"I think he'll be okay." Will stood up. "Although you may want to sit here for a bit. You look like you're going to vomit."

"No, I'm good to go," Jason tried to stand, but immediately sat back down. His face turned a sickly shade of green. "Or maybe I'll just wait."

An hour later, after Jason's nausea wore off, Piper walked with him back to his cabin to clean up.

"Thanks for the help, Death Boy," Will said with a smile as he and Nico cleaned the dirty rags.

Nico stared at the rag in his hand. "I didn't really do much."

Will nudged his arm against Nico's. "You're wrong. I couldn't have gotten those rags, tried to stop the bleeding on Jason's face, and prevented him from passing out or vomiting, which he was very close to doing, by myself. It was nice to simply have an extra pair of hands. I could use you more often."

The son of Hades began to protest, but one look into Will's eyes stopped him. "You really want me here more?"

Will smiled at Nico. "Yeah! I mean, you don't totally suck." That comment earned Will a slap in the arm with a bloody rag.

* * *

**A/N: So I had a request to include the more mature side of them like in the last chapter, and I have a few ideas that would involve more maturity (I guess?), but just a fair warning, I'm super duper awkward. I'll try to make some chapters more mature (not like rated M level), but I don't know how cringe-worthy it's gonna turn out. Um yeah, stay tuned for that! **


	11. Catch Me If You Can

**To the people who have requested specific scenes for me to write: I'm not ignoring them. I have a whole list of chapter ideas, and usually I decide to write one out whenever I come up with a piece of dialogue for it that I just love (I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm way better at writing dialogue than anything else, mostly because I want to be a playwright and plays are primarily dialogue). So I may or may not get to them depending on when inspiration kicks in. I just feel like if I try to write them all now, they'll be too forced and disappointing (which I already feel about some of the previous chapters). I hope you understand!**

**Anyway, this includes very established Solangelo. **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Will wiped the sweat from his forehead as he trekked towards the Hades cabin. It had been a long morning in the infirmary due to a prank on the Aphrodite cabin going somewhat wrong, and he was happy to finally spend some time with his boyfriend.

"Death Boy?"

The son of Apollo swung open the door, expecting to find the son of Hades sitting in the dark (even now he still had a tendency to do that sometimes), but instead Nico di Angelo was nowhere to be seen. Will took another step inside, hoping that maybe his boyfriend was merely hiding in the shadows, when his foot landed on a piece of paper. In confusion, he picked it up, recognizing Nico's handwriting.

_Dear Sunshine:_

_Roses are red,_

_Violets are blue._

_Catch me if you can! ;)_

Will stared at the message.

"Well, that was a shitty poem."

He stuffed the paper into his pocket and left the cabin, wondering what in the world got into Nico. Sitting a short distance from the cabin were Jason and Piper, holding hands and admiring some sketches, most likely of the next shrine.

"Hey Jason, Piper, have you seen Nico?" Will asked when he approached them.

Jason shook his head.

Piper looked up at something behind Will's face. "Um, I think I have." She pointed, and Will turned around, surprised to find Nico lounging on top of his own cabin.

"Di Angelo, what are you doing up there? You're gonna fall!"

"Relax, Solace!" Nico responded.

Will fished out the piece of paper from his pocket. "And what does this mean exactly?"

Nico smirked. "It means exactly what you think it means."

"I think it means you've gone insane and—are you eating an apple?"

Will finally noticed that Nico held an apple in his hand, which he promptly took a large bite out of, taking Will by surprise since he had never seen his boyfriend eat a plain apple willingly.

"Well, you know what they say," Nico said, admiring the apple. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

Will placed his hands on his hips. "Guess I better burn that orchard down, eh?" Nico chuckled. "Come down here, Death Boy."

Said boy merely stood up. "Nah, you read the note. You gotta catch me… if you can!" And with that, Nico tossed him the apple and shadow traveled out of sight.

Will stared at the spot Nico had been in not even five seconds previously.

"Just because I gave him the all clear to shadow travel again, doesn't mean he can use it frivolously," he muttered to himself as he turned back towards Jason and Piper, who were giving him a strange look.

"Um, what did we just witness?" Jason asked warily.

Will showed them the paper. "What do you make of this? And this?" He peered at the apple now in his hands and realized that the bite Nico took out of it was unmistakably in the shape of a heart.

Piper attempted to stifle a laugh. "Will, do you know what day it is?"

He shrugged. "It's Saturday."

"Yes, but what is the date?"

"February fourteenth—oh. It's Valentine's Day." Will sat down on the grass. "I guess I was so preoccupied this morning that I just forgot. But that still doesn't explain anything. Nico told me he wanted to do the most unromantic thing today, so we made plans to take a boat trip on the River Styx."

"That is definitely not romantic," Jason agreed. "Although if you think about it, he is kinda running away from you, which could be an unromantic gesture."

Will fiddled with the paper. "Then why is he so… outright flirty?"

Jason clapped Will on the back. "That, my friend, I do not have an answer for."

"Just humor him," Piper suggested. "He obviously wants you to catch him, so," she gestured to the rest of the camp, "go catch him."

Will grinned and left the two of them in search for his slightly absurd boyfriend. He tried to think like Nico to figure out where he might be next, which led him into the woods and in front of a particularly tall tree.

"Took you long enough, Sunshine!" Nico called down.

"Did Dionysus slip you some wine?" Will asked as he stood directly under the tree.

Nico shook his head. "Not this time! You gonna come up or what?"

Will crossed his arms. "I know if I climb up there, you're just going to shadow travel away again, despite the fact that I told you to be careful with it!"

"I'm not gonna shadow travel away!"

"Promise?"

"I swear it on the Styx."

This seemed to satisfy Will, so he began his climb up the tree. About halfway to Nico, the son of Hades let out a shrill whistle, and a huge, black fur ball came bounding towards the tree. Nico winked at Will before jumping off his branch and landing on the back of Mrs. O'Leary.

"You little shit!" Will exclaimed as he attempted to quickly climb back down.

"Hey, I'm not shadow traveling!" Nico replied before he and Mrs. O'Leary took off back to camp.

By the time Will's feet felt the ground once more, Nico was completely out of sight.

For the next few hours, the son of Apollo journeyed around camp in search of the son of Hades. He ran into him several more times, including in the bathroom (which nearly proved disastrous when Nico almost made Will crap his pants, quite literally).

Four o'clock rolled around and Will found himself wandering into the strawberry fields, even though he could clearly see that not a soul was there. A soft breeze blew and the air smelt like fresh berries, so Will stood there for a minute and let the scene relax him. He got so lost in his tranquility that he didn't notice a hand grasp his ankle until he fell face first into the delicious tasting dirt.

"What the hell—Nico?"

He sat up to see his boyfriend crouching beside him.

"Hey," Nico said, brushing the dirt off of Will's face. "Looks like you caught me. Well, technically I caught you, but I'll still count it."

Will opened his mouth to question Nico about his strange behavior when Nico's lips found his own, erasing any logical thought running through his mind. He didn't know how long they stayed there with their faces pressed together and their fingers intertwined in each other's hair—a minute? Ten minutes? An hour? Will had no clue.

"That was much better than an Underworld canoe ride, huh?" Nico said when he eventually pulled away.

"What, the wild goose chase around camp or the making out? Because if your goal was to be unromantic, then you failed at the end."

Nico shrugged. "I enjoyed myself."

"And you enjoyed making me run everywhere like a lunatic."

"I don't have to try hard to make you look like a lunatic, Sunshine."

Will scoffed. "But seriously, what's with you today? It's like you've slipped into someone else's skin or something."

Nico pinched his arm. "Nope. Still my skin."

"So why are you all of a sudden consciously flirty and very enthusiastic about Valentine's day? Were you shot with Cupid's arrow?" Will teased, to which Nico huffed in response. "Oh gods, you actually _were_ shot with Cupid's arrow?"

Nico nodded. "He was in my cabin this morning when I woke up, and I tried to strangle him. The bastard wasn't too pleased, so he shot me."

"Well, that explains everything," Will laughed.

"It's mostly worn off now, but it was way worse earlier. I was drawing little hearts on every piece of paper I could find and giggling, and I swear I started squealing worse than you did that one time we ran into Orlando Bloom in the city."

Will lay down beside Nico. "I would pay a hundred drachmas to have witnessed you in complete love-struck mode." He laced his fingers in Nico's. "So you're not Cupid-ified anymore?"

"Nah, just stupid-ified." He peered into Will's blue eyes. "Although I feel a little flirty still."

Will smirked. "Well, I guess we're just gonna have to cuddle then." He wrapped his arm around Nico's shoulders and pulled him closer.

Nico leaned his head against Will's chest. "Don't get used to this."

Will kissed his boyfriend's head. "Wouldn't dream of it. I like my grumpy force of darkness the way he is. But I am going to scold you."

The son of Hades sighed. "I promise not to use my shadow traveling for non-important things, I promise not to stand on the cabin roofs, and I'm sorry for tricking you into climbing that tree."

Will chuckled. "No, not that. I'm very disappointed in your terrible poetry. It didn't even rhyme!"

"Not all poems rhyme, Solace. It's called free verse."

"In your case, it's called crap."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Oh please, have you heard some of the poems your father's come up with? Now _those_ are crap."

"My father's probably gonna curse you for that comment."

Nico lifted his head and peered at the bright sun above them. "Catch me if you can."

* * *

**A/N: Was that slightly more mature at the end? I realize I'm way better at writing cutesy stuff, but the whole purpose of this story is for me to work on improving my writing and expanding my horizons, so I'll keep trying different things. Thanks guys!**


	12. The Barricades of Freedom

**So I've officially decided an end date for this story (not gonna lie, I didn't even think I would get past like three chapters due to my commitment to writing issues). On August 18th, I'm moving to a new college out of state (it's a 16 hour drive), so I plan to hopefully keep writing more chapters up until that point. Just to let y'all know.**

**As always, thanks for reading! **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"I feel like I'm forgetting something important," Will commented as he leaned back on his bed.

Nico sat crisscrossed at Will's feet. "I don't know… is it someone's birthday?"

"I don't think so." Will shrugged. "I'm sure it's nothing. I'm probably just losing it."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

Will responded by flinging a pillow at Nico's face. Nico smirked and smacked Will's feet with said pillow.

The son of Apollo jerked his legs back. "There's no need for such violence."

"Yes, there is." Nico promptly whacked Will once again, this time aiming for his chest.

Will managed to grab hold of the pillow and wrench it from his boyfriend's hands, and Nico soon found himself in a corner of the cabin as Will playfully pummeled him. The son of Hades was finally able to clench the front of Will's shirt, pulling him towards the shorter boy into a kiss. As Will relaxed, Nico reached around and grasped the pillow.

"Ah ha!" Nico exclaimed, stepping back with the pillow. "I am victorious!"

"That's not fair!" Will said, crossing his arms. "You used your seduction skills to trick me."

Nico scoffed. "Um, I'm pretty sure I lack all seduction skills. I just know how to work you."

Will wiggled his eyebrow. "Hmm you sure do."

Nico smacked Will one last time with the pillow before throwing it back on the bed. Suddenly, Will's eyes lit up.

"Hey, so you know how, like, five minutes ago you mentioned you were bored?"

"I didn't say I was bored, Sunshine. I believe my actual phrasing was 'I don't want to go to the arena to spar because Percy is gone and it would be boring without him,' to which you replied, 'I'll spar with you!'"

Will placed his hands on his hips. "Yeah, and then you laughed at me. But anyway, my point is…" He gestured around the Apollo cabin. "Look at all these perfectly made beds."

Nico looked around. "Um yes, they are neater than usual. I still don't see your point."

"Think of all the possibilities."

"For what?"

"Fort building!"

Nico stared at his boyfriend. "Fort building?"

Will leaned down so his face was parallel and inches away from Nico's. "Do you wanna build a foooooort?" He whisper-sang.

"You're actually serious?" Nico asked incredulously as Will pulled the sheets and pillows off of all his siblings' beds. "I'm pretty sure we have better things to do with our lives than build a sheet fort."

"I highly doubt that," Will replied, flinging sheets towards the other boy. "Come on, I'm willing to bet you've never built a fort before!"

Nico gathered one of the sheets. "Of course I have! In my room… in the Underworld… out of skulls…"

Will stopped what he was doing. "That's basically the most hardcore thing a child could ever say. Anyway, we're going to build the most kick-ass fort that will put all other bed forts to shame. Grab another blanket."

"Aye aye, sir," Nico mock saluted as he picked up a blanket.

The two boys worked for a good twenty minutes on their fort, and it was coming together very nicely until Will tripped on a rogue pillow and brought a majority of the sheets down with him. Through his laughter, Nico reached down to help him up, but Will yanked on his arm instead and caused the son of Hades to land right on top of him.

"Was that necessary?" Nico asked with a hint of pink on his cheeks as he gazed down at Will's smirking face.

Will kissed his boyfriend. "Yes, it was."

Nico scrambled to his feet (albeit slowly, but he would never admit how much he actually enjoyed the position they were in) and surveyed the damage. "Most kick-ass fort, huh?"

Will stood up. "Okay, screw the kick-ass fort." He stacked two pillows on top of each other. "New idea: a kick-ass barricade."

Nico rolled his eyes but nevertheless began stacking pillows as well. After an hour and only one other tripping episode, a fully constructed bedding barricade spanned the entire width of the cabin and reached almost two feet below the ceiling, dividing the cabin in half.

"Well, I think this is a worthy barricade," Will said, admiring their work.

"Yeah, it's beautiful," Nico responded with less enthusiasm. "What do we do now?"

Suddenly, Will pulled his red shirt over his head (triggering a slight blush on the other boy's face) and waved it around as he climbed up one of the bunks.

"_Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men?_" He sang. "_It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again!_"

Nico stared. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It is time for the common masses to rise above the French corruption and take control of their government! The Friends of the ABC Café (_hehe my pen name_) fight for the people of France!"

"Solace, you're not French."

Just when Nico thought his boyfriend couldn't get any stranger, Will jumped off the bunk and held him close.

"_Hush-a-bye, dear Epo-nico, you won't feel any pain. A little fall of rain can hardly hurt you now._"

Nico wriggled free of Will's grip, consciously aware that he was shirtless. "You're absolutely insane"

Will beamed. "But look at it! This barricade is quite possibly the coolest thing we've ever done."

"Gee, and I thought that award belonged to saving the world a few times."

Will chuckled and began to since once more. Luckily, Nico was saved from seeing the son of Apollo reenact the entire musical of _Les Misérables_ when they heard the cabin door open. Will quietly climbed up the bunk bed again while Nico followed suit on a bunk against the opposite wall.

"Hello?" The mysterious guest called.

Will jumped up with his fist clenching his red shirt. "French Revolution!"

However, he clearly misinterpreted the amount of space he had and slammed his head into the ceiling. Nico began to grin like an idiot to prevent himself from uncontrollable laughter as he peered over the barricade and saw Annabeth standing in the doorway with a clipboard in hand.

Her eyes darted from an embarrassed Will rubbing his head to the giant pillow barricade to a smiling Nico.

"Will, you're not French."

He shrugged. "Can we help you with something, Annabeth?"

She tapped her clipboard. "Cabin inspection."

Will's smiled faded immediately while Nico struggled harder to keep his laughter in.

"So I _did_ forget something today," he said sheepishly. "I guess that explains why everyone's beds were so neat."

Annabeth wrote some notes on her clipboard. "Uh huh."

"Do you mind coming back in ten minutes and pretending you never saw this?"

The daughter of Athena shook her head. "Not going to happen. I'll give you a two out of five," she pointed her pen at Will, "but only because your barricade is so well-constructed."

And with that, she turned and left the cabin. As soon as the door closed all the way, Nico broke out laughing.

"Your siblings are going to be so pissed," he managed to get out through his amusement.

Will admired the barricade once again. "Oh well, it was worth it. I am going to keep this up as long as I can though."

Nico calmed down. "If you say so." He mimicked Will and peered over all the pillows. "So uh, how exactly do you plan on leaving this cabin then?"

* * *

**A/N: Let's play a game of "how many musical references can I make in the chapter titles/through Will's comments by the time I finish this story?" (Because I have this headcanon that even though Will lacks musical abilities, he still has an extensive knowledge of musical theatre... so basically, he's like me.) So far, I'm at 7 references in the titles and like a lot with Will after this chapter. Also, I apologize if you've never seen any form of Les Mis because you may have been somewhat confused at the references, but I love it to death. :)**


	13. Get'cha Head in the Game

**Thanks for the incredibly positive response to the last chapter! It made me smile :)**

**Also, this chapter isn't as Solangelo-centric as the other ones, but there are cute-sy moments in here. The main focus is on fun times with the head councilors. **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places related to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

It didn't take long for the other head councilors at Camp Half Blood to realize that Nico di Angelo was a force to be reckon with… at least when it came to party games.

"I don't understand how someone who missed out on like seventy years of technology can be so amazing at Mariokart," Percy commented for the tenth time during their head councilor game night as Nico came in first place yet again.

"You're forgetting, Jackson," Nico pointed out, "that I spent those seventy years playing arcade games. It's only logical that I would whoop everyone's ass."

"But that was _Bowser's Castle_!" Connor Stoll emphasized as he shoveled popcorn into his mouth.

"It's one of the most difficult tracks to get through, and you aced it like it was a walk in the park," Travis Stoll finished.

Will wrapped his arm around Nico shoulders. "You're just jealous that my boyfriend is better than all of you."

He quickly kissed the son of Hades on the cheek, which prompted nearly every person in the room to throw popcorn at the two boys, followed by "Get a room!" Blushing, Nico looked around and mused that he never would have pictured himself accepted by such a great group of people, a group that included Will, Jason, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Calypso, the Stoll brothers, Clarisse, Katie Gardner, Lou Ellen, Clovis, Pollux, Butch, and a girl named Lucy who arrived last week only to discover she was the first official camper of the Nemesis cabin (thus making her the head councilor as well).

"Bowser's Castle is a tough one," Leo said, shaking Nico from his thoughts. "But it's not the most difficult track. That title belongs to Rainbow Road. Although…" He gave Nico a knowing grin. "I bet di Angelo would definitely excel at it."

Nico grabbed a controller lying on the couch beside Percy and tossed it at Leo, ignoring the subtle (or not-so-subtle) comment on his sexuality. "Shall we find out, Valdez?"

As expected, Nico did indeed excel at Rainbow Road.

* * *

The group of head councilors stared back and forth between Nico and Clarisse, who stood at opposite ends of the ping pong table, which was now actually used for ping pong. After both of them had beaten every other person, the two were currently battling each other to see who would be crowned the ultimate ping pong champion of Camp Half Blood.

The score was currently ten to eleven with Nico in the lead. If he scored one more point, he would win the game.

Will massaged Nico's shoulders. "You got this, babe."

Clarisse looked around as if she expected one of the others to give her a pep talk, not that she needed it.

Connor, who sat closest to her, grabbed a nearby broom and used it to poke her in the back. "You got this, ba—," he trailed off when the daughter of Ares glared at him. "Babylonian warrior?"

Clarisse rolled her eyes and cracked her knuckles. "Let's finish this, di Angelo."

Nico served it, and the two bounced the ball back and forth. Almost ten minutes passed and still neither of them scored a point until Clarisse put a little too much force on her swing and sent the ball flying way past her opponent. Nico raised his arms in victory as Will picked him up and swung him around. When the son of Apollo put him down, Katie and Pollux placed a crown of vines and grass that they made during the game on his head.

"I gotta say, you make a worthy opponent," Clarisse said as the two shook hands.

"Thanks. You too, Clarisse."

Travis crossed his arms. "You know, it makes a lot of sense that Nico would be great at ping pong since it's a game that involves balls flying towards you."

Almost all of the boys in the room burst out laughing while the girls just sighed. Nico maintained a straight face (pun fully intended) and chucked his racket at Travis, knocking him out of his chair.

"So what's next?"

* * *

"Right foot… Blue!" Piper called out.

"No, no, no!" Calypso exclaimed as she slipped and landed face first on the mat. "Ugh, why did I think playing Twister was a good idea anyway?" She sat down beside Leo, who rubbed her back in comfort.

The three players left in the game were Jason, Will, and, of course, Nico, all in very strange positions. After the last move, Jason found himself tangled up in between the other two boys.

"This is very uncomfortable," he stated.

Will managed to turn his head towards the son of Jupiter. "What, this isn't how you pictured your first threesome?"

The entire room broke into a fit of laughter. Jason's face became bright crimson and he muttered something incoherent.

Through her laughter, Piper was somehow able to call out the next command. "Left hand… yellow!"

The three boys struggled to oblige, but Jason, still embarrassed, slipped and collapsed on the ground, nearly taking Nico with him. As Nico re-situated himself, he realized the compromising position that he and Will were now in—the son of Apollo was practically hovering directly over the son of Hades.

"So Death Boy, looks like it's just you and me." Will leaned his face closer to Nico's.

"If you're trying to distract me, Sunshine, it won't work."

Will smirked. "I would _never_ think of doing that." Before Nico could respond, Will kissed him, and Nico suddenly found it difficult to hold himself up. He ignored a loud whistle from someone in the room and focused on not letting Will melt his mind like he usually does whenever they kiss.

"You're attempts are futile," Nico said when they broke apart.

Will pecked the other boy's lips. "Are you sure?" He kissed him again. "Absolutely positive?" One last kiss. "I think you're cracking."

"I think you're desperate."

Will bit his lip, but Nico looked anywhere else except at his boyfriend.

Piper flicked the spinner. "If you two are done making out, move your right foot again to… red!"

Luckily, that move was easy for Nico to accomplish, but Will seemed to be having difficulties. Nico smiled wickedly and rammed his lips into Will's, the sudden force sending him to the floor.

"I win!" Nico said, standing over Will. "Nice try though."

* * *

At this point, everyone was determined to find a game that Nico couldn't win at. He beat the Stoll brothers at Poker ("Again, need I remind you about the Lotus Casino?"), he won UNO three times ("This is kind of like a mundane version of Mythomagic with colors and numbers"), and he discovered the answer to Clue first despite Piper's attempts to charmspeak him into telling her what her knew ("It was Miss Scarlett in the library with the candlestick").

Now, he and Annabeth stared at each other from across the Monopoly board. Within the course of the three hour game, making it the shortest game of Monopoly any of them had ever played, six of the eight teams ended up bankrupt as Annabeth with Percy and Nico with Will each took over half the board.

"Whose turn is it?" Butch asked. The other councilors sprawled out on the couches as they watched the intense game unfold.

"Annabeth is deciding whether to add another house on Marvin Gardens," Percy replied.

"I'm gonna do it." Annabeth handed her fake money to Calypso, the official banker of the game. Calypso placed a third house on the indicated spot.

Nico rolled the dice and narrowly avoided the very same Marvin Gardens, instead landing on Pacific Avenue, which he happened to own already.

Annabeth, angered at a missed opportunity, rolled the dice for her turn. Upon seeing two fives, she took her battleship and moved it ten spaces. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw what she landed on.

"Boardwalk," she whispered.

Nico grinned. "Oh look, I own that! And it has a hotel on it."

Annabeth began to count her cash. "No, this can't be right. I always keep enough cash on hand in case I land there!"

"But Annabeth, you just spent some of that money on Marvin Gardens," Percy pointed out.

"I swear it wasn't enough to go over!" She recounted her money. "I don't have it."

Nico gestured to his ear. "I'm sorry, Annabeth, I didn't quite catch that."

"I. Don't. Have. The. Money." She sighed and set all her money down. "Nico wins."

Everyone perked up, shocked to see a game of Monopoly actually end with a winner.

"Damn," Pollux said, "This kid just cannot lose."

* * *

As it turned out, there was one thing Nico could lose at: Just Dance 2.

"This is so stupid!" he yelled in frustration as he continued to mess up on the dance moves to the song _Rasputin_.

Beside him, Lou Ellen nailed each move almost perfectly, and when the song ended, the rest of the councilors let out a loud cheer at the scores that proved Nico di Angelo had finally lost.

"I was rooting for you," Will whispered into his ear after he pecked his cheek.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"What in the world is happening in here?"

The group stopped their celebration at the sight of Chiron standing in the doorway to the Big House.

"It is six in the morning! Have you all been up this entire time?"

They glanced at the clock on the wall for the first time that night/morning and realized it truly was six o'clock.

Percy grimaced. "I, uh, guess we got a little carried away trying to make Nico lose."

Chiron sighed. "When I said I'd tell the harpies to leave you alone, I didn't think you'd stay up the whole night. At least Clovis seems to understand that you should all be sleeping."

Sure enough, Clovis was passed out on the couch as he had been since Mariokart.

"Yeah, but he would still be asleep even if it was four o'clock in the afternoon," Clarisse commented.

"Aaaand, on the plus side," Leo added, "We finally found a game Nico sucks at!"

Nico glared. "I just need some practice!"

Lou Ellen scoffed. "You still won't be able to beat me."

Chiron shook his head. "Everyone, go back to your cabins and try to get some sleep. You will all be expected to show up for your camp activities."

The head councilors filed out of the Big House and towards their respective cabins.

Will took Nico's hand. "Well, the sun is already starting to come up, meaning I will not be getting any sleep until tonight."

"Good. You can help me practice that dumb Rasputin dance in my cabin."

The son of Apollo smiled mischievously when they reached the door. "Actually, I have some _other_ ideas of what we can do in your cabin."

* * *

**A/N: I literally googled a Monopoly board to get the correct amount of spaces because I felt the need to include precise details like that. Anyway, thank you all so much for reading!**


	14. The Phantom of the Meow-pera

**Happy National Hug Your Cat Day! I figured this would be a perfect chapter for the occasion. Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places related to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"Nico, _you_ almost decapitated me with a sword that one time. Can you imagine what would happen if you put a sword in _my_ hand?" Will and Nico walked through the forest hand in hand, making mindless conversation while enjoying each other's presence.

"Will, I'm just saying that basic sword skills could be pretty useful."

The son of Apollo shrugged. "I think healing is more useful, and most of the camp can't do that, so I'm actually one step ahead of everyone else."

Nico smiled. "I didn't say you were behind, I just meant—wait, do you hear that?"

The son of Hades suddenly stopped walking and undid his sword from his belt.

Will looked around. "No—,"

_Mew._

Nico quickly turned towards a tree beside them. "It's coming from behind here," he whispered.

_Mew._

Will scrunched his eyebrows. "That sounds like… Nico, I don't think you need to be on your guard."

"Why not?" Nico crept towards the tree.

"Because I'm pretty sure that sound isn't a monster. It's probably just a—,"

Nico raised his sword and jumped at the source of the noise, surprised to find a black, furry…

"Kitten," Will finished. He peered at Nico's outstretched sword. "Sheesh, Death Boy, maybe we should keep a sword out of _your_ hand since you almost just decapitated a defenseless kitten!"

Said boy replaced his sword on his belt in embarrassment. "I didn't know it was a cat..."

Will bent down and picked up the small kitten. "Aw, hey there, little buddy. How'd you get this scratch?" Sure enough, there was a deep gash on the side of his body.

"Can you heal kittens?"

"Probably. I've never tried it before." Will placed his palm over the kitten's wound and hummed. After a few seconds, the cut closed up and the kitten looked a lot less afraid. "See? My healing skills are more useful in this situation."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah. I wonder where he came from."

Will examined the kitten. His fur was completely black, except for a patch of white around one of his eyes. "He kind of looks like the Phantom of the Opera in cat form. I wonder if he plays the organ and steals women into his dungeon."

"That would make him one talented kitty."

Will suddenly chuckled. "He's the Phantom of the Meow-pera!"

Nico stared at him. "That was terrible."

"Terribly amazing!" Will stepped closer to Nico. "Here, hold him."

Nico glanced at him hesitantly. "I don't know…"

Will didn't listen and shoved the kitten into his arms. Nico tensed up, expecting the cat to bite him or cower at his touch, but instead he purred and rubbed his head against Nico's chest.

"He likes you."

"That's unusual. Animals don't really like me."

"Mrs. O'Leary likes you," Will pointed out.

"Yeah, but she's also from the Underworld," Nico countered.

Will scratched the kitten's ears. "Maybe this little guy is from the Underworld, too."

"Nah, he's too cute."

"Well, so are you."

Nico blushed. "So what do we do with him?"

"Take him back to your cabin, obviously. Although I guess we should ask Chiron where we can get some kitty food," Will pondered.

"Do you think cats like strawberries?"

"Strawberries are not proper kitty food, Nico. Come on, let's get him out of the woods."

As if on cue, the kitten climbed from Nico's arms onto his shoulder and perched himself there.

"Oh gods, what do I do?" Nico froze in place.

Will smiled. "Just walk. Cats have great balance and always land on their feet."

"That's questionable. Leo has shown me plenty of cat videos where they are far less than coordinated."

Nevertheless, the two boys began to trek back towards the camp, once again hand in hand. Nico di Angelo with a kitten chilling on his shoulder was definitely a sight none of the campers thought they would see, but everyone silently agreed that it was the cutest thing ever.

"The gods have blessed us with this moment," Piper commented with a huge beam on her face as Nico and Will approached the cabins.

Nico glared at her. "Don't you dare call me cute."

Piper burst out laughing because the kitten gave her the same exact glare that Nico did.

Jason grinned and reached out to pet the kitten. "I like your new friend, Neeks."

The cat abruptly jumped down from Nico's shoulder and pranced towards the Hades cabin.

Will looked as if he was tearing up and wrapped his arm around Nico. "Our baby already knows where his home is!"

"Our baby?"

Jason snickered. "Congrats, first time fathers!"

Before Nico could scold the son of Jupiter, the kitten sat down in front of the Hades door and looked back at the four demigods.

_Mew._

"Awwwwww," all four of them sighed.

"My heart just melted," Piper said. "Go be with your kitten."

Will and Nico walked to Cabin Thirteen. Nico scooped up the kitten into his arms and carried him over the threshold and into the cabin. Once inside, he placed him on the bed, and he immediately started playing with a loose thread from Nico's comforter.

"I'm going to go ask Chiron if we have anything for cat food and what to do about a litter box," Will stated.

"Wait, you're going to leave me here alone with him?"

"You'll be fine!" The son of Apollo assured him before kissing the kitten and his boyfriend. "I'll be back in like twenty minutes!"

* * *

"Will, he peed on my bed!" Nico yelled when he returned with his arms full of cat food and a small litter box (Will decided not to ask Chiron why they already had appropriate kitty supplies).

Sure enough, there was a large wet spot on Nico's comforter and a large frown on Nico's face.

Will couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"Yes, I am, Death Boy. Because this is funny."

Nico scoffed. "No, it's not! This is gross!"

"What did you expect? Cats have to pee, too. Where is he anyway?"

"He's hiding under my bed, and I can't get him to come out."

Will set down the supplies and scooped some food into his hand. He lowered himself onto his stomach and peered underneath the bed. "Here, kitty. I brought some food. I promise mean ol' Papa isn't going to punish you for peeing on his bed."

"Papa?"

"Yes, you're Papa, and I'm Daddy."

"What the hell, Will."

Will shushed his boyfriend as the kitten slowly approached the son of Apollo. When he was close enough, he grabbed him and pulled him out, allowing the kitten to eat from his hand as he held him in his arms.

Nico sat down beside Will on the floor. "He probably hates me now."

"Don't say that! Look!" He set the kitten down, who promptly pounced into Nico's lap. "He could never hate you."

The two boys sat shoulder to shoulder, watching their kitten pounce around the room like proud parents would.

"So what should we name him?" Will finally asked.

"Phantom," Nico responded with no hesitation.

"Really?"

"Of course. It's the most fitting. You said he looks like the Phantom of the Opera, which goes with your musical obsession. Plus 'phantom' is synonymous with 'ghost', and I _am_ the Ghost King."

Will beamed. "It's perfect." He leaned in and kissed Nico, but they were rudely interrupted when Phantom leapt onto Nico's head.

The two laughed and kept kissing.

"Okay, I do have one comment though," Nico said when they pulled apart. He gave Will a serious look, which was difficult to take the slightest bit seriously with a cat sitting on his head.

"And that comment is?"

"_Papa_ and _Daddy_?"

"Oh please," Will smirked. "Don't act like you don't love it."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks guys! **


	15. Like One of Your French Girls

**I can't believe this story reached 100 followers! *throws confetti* Thank you all so much! :)**

**Sorry this one is a bit shorter than the others, but like halfway through writing this I basically lost all inspiration, so the ending is kind of abrupt. But I really like the first half...**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"Damn, your sister is an amazing artist," Will commented as he flipped through Hazel's sketchbook that she left in the Hades cabin. Some of the Romans were visiting Camp Half Blood, which was great because Nico loved seeing his sister whenever possible, but currently Hazel was out sparring with Piper.

"Yeah, she is," Nico agreed. "Look at this one. She drew Calypso based solely on Leo's descriptions of her, and it's so spot on!"

Will watched Nico's face swell with pride as he gazed at the various drawings, causing the son of Apollo to smile. He absolutely adored Nico's love for Hazel.

"Can you do that?"

Nico looked up. "Hm?"

"Can you draw?"

He scrunched up his face. "Probably not."

"_Probably_ not?" Will repeated incredulously. "What, you don't actually know if you can draw?"

"It's not like I've ever sat down with the intention of testing my art skills!"

"So you've never drawn anything?"

Nico sighed exasperatedly. "I mean, I've _doodled_ and I guess they were okay..."

He trailed off as Will peered at him curiously.

"Well, I think you would be great at drawing!" Will declared.

Nico snorted. "I doubt it. I might be able to draw a decent tree, but people?" He shook his head. "Nope."

"There's only one way to find out." Will turned to a blank page in the sketchbook and shoved it into Nico's hands along with a pencil and eraser. "Draw me."

Nico glanced quizzically up at his boyfriend. "Draw you?"

"Yes," Will leaned down and whispered into Nico's ear. "Draw me like one of your French girls."

The son of Hades blushed at the reference that he very much understood now since Will made him watch _Titanic _with him the week before (and yeah, Nico did tear up).

Instead of waiting for a response, Will plopped down onto Nico's bed and positioned himself on his side in a slightly provocative pose.

Nico stared at the strange boy. "Hazel is going to be so embarrassed if she walks in."

Will smirked. "Why? All my clothes are on." A darker shade of red crept onto Nico's face as Will wiggled his eyebrows at him.

"You're an idiot," Nico said, rolling his eyes; nevertheless, he placed the pencil to the paper and began to draw.

As Nico sketched, Will tried to maintain a flirty facial expression but kept breaking composure and laughing. Nico would crack a small smile at his boyfriend's antics while continuing to focus on his drawing. They remained like that for about ten minutes until Nico suddenly scribbled all over the paper and ripped it out of the notebook.

"Argh!" he cried out, clearly frustrated. He crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it at Will. "Your body is giving me issues!"

Will laughed. "Do you find this _distracting_?"

"No, I just can't—stop giving me that look!—I can't figure out how to draw your body! You end up looking like a gingerbread man."

The son of Apollo unfolded the half-finished drawing. He had to admit that it did seem sort of gingerbread man-esque.

Nico scooted his chair closer to Will. "Forget your body—,"

"That's gonna be difficult for you."

A pink eraser hit Will square in the forehead.

"Anyway," Nico continued as if nothing just happened, "I'm just going to focus on your face. I think it will be easier." He started outlining Will's head but paused immediately. "Er, I kind of need my eraser."

Will chuckled and tossed it back. "Death Boy, you know it doesn't have to be perfect," he told him.

"I'm aware, but with a perfect subject matter, I have to strive for some decency."

Will found himself beaming as his cheeks turned a faint pink. "For someone who puts on a façade of darkness and aloofness, you sure are a big softie sometimes."

The son of Hades glared at him as expected, but Will knew the glare was half-hearted, especially since the corners of Nico's mouth were slightly angled upwards.

They stayed like that for the next thirty minutes while Nico worked on the sketch. Occasionally Will would make a comment about how it was sanitary to change pillowcases every week or Nico would get up to grab a new pencil, but mostly they remained silent. Will enjoyed watching Nico make careful pencil strokes on the paper and thought he looked so cute whenever he furiously erased an error. Every so often, when Nico glanced up at Will, their eyes would meet for a brief moment, and Will would feel familiar butterflies in his stomach. Yes, even after a few months of dating, Nico di Angelo still managed to give Will Solace butterflies.

"All right," Nico said finally. "I think it's complete."

Will quickly walked to Nico and peered at the sketchbook. Sure, some of the proportions were a bit off and you could still see some of the marks he tried to erase, but anyone could tell that Nico perfectly captured Will's bright grin and sunny personality in a frozen moment.

"It's not up to par with Hazel's drawings…" Nico mumbled.

"But it's still fantastic."

Nico looked up in disbelief. "Really? You're not just saying that?"

Will leaned down and kissed the other boy. "I love it." He carefully tore the drawing out of Hazel's sketchbook. "This is totally going on my wall."

Nico ran his hand through his hair. "Thanks. So, uh, now what?"

"Now," Will took the pencil. "I'm going to draw you."

"What?"

"Yep, sit down."

"But—"

"As cute as your butt is, I will not be drawing that."

Nico blushed yet again but gave up protesting and sat on his bed.

Will began to sketch. "Don't worry, this masterpiece won't take long."

He was right. Five minutes later, he set the pencil down.

"Are you ready to see the greatest drawing I have ever made?"

The other boy silently nodded, but soon burst out laughing at the sight of Will's stick figure picture. "What are those blobs around me?"

"Those are supposed to be ghosts. Because you're the Ghost King and all."

That only made Nico laugh harder. "I thought those were potatoes!"

Will smiled at his response. "See, unlike you, I already knew I was a sucky artist."

"Nah, Sunshine, that might be the greatest drawing _in history_."

Needless to say, Hazel was very confused when she opened her sketchbook and found a drawing of a stick person surrounded by potatoes with eyes.

* * *

**A/N: I just realized that it's been a while since I wrote a chapter in which they aren't together yet (probably because I really like writing them together), so my next chapter will most likely be them in the flirty-crush stage. Maybe. I don't know yet. **


	16. The Cliche Beach Scenario

**I know the whole "Nico crushing hardcore on Will at the beach" scene is done a lot, but I honestly can't get enough of it. So here's my version, which I actually loved writing. **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"Nico di Angelo, take off your pants!"

Nico didn't think his face could get any redder when he heard those words escape Will Solace's mouth.

Will, crimson in the face as well, realized what he said and quickly tried to recover. "I, uh, I just—I mean—we're all going swimming! You can't wear pants. They'll weigh you down in the water."

Nico managed to get those damn skeletal butterflies in his stomach under control before replying nonchalantly. "Who said I was getting in the water?"

"You'll still overheat in those black pants," Will countered. "I've worked hard the past few weeks to get you to a healthier state, and I don't need a heat stroke to add to the ever-growing health concerns in your patient file."

The son of Hades glanced down at his slightly open dresser. "I don't exactly own a swimsuit though. Or a pair of shorts for that matter."

Will smiled. "Luckily I happen to have one for you." He chucked a pair of swim trunks at Nico. "You're roughly the same size as Austin, at least height wise, so that should fit you."

Nico eyed the black swim suit warily. "This is... used?"

"No, gross! Austin and I got new ones the other day, and I figured you didn't have one. Do you really think Austin would own anything solid black?"

"You bought me a swimsuit?" Nico tried not to blush. "I'll pay you back—"

Will shrugged. "That's not necessary. Austin's stepdad is loaded with money, so it's not a big deal. What _is_ necessary is that you put those on and meet all of your friends in ten minutes. Got it?"

Nico resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Will's "scolding doctor" glare. "Got it."

Will turned to leave the cabin when he remembered something else. "Oh yeah, and put this on as well." He fished a small bottle of sunscreen from his pocket and tossed it to the other boy. "Seeing how pale you are, you'll probably burn so easily. I want to get some color back into your skin without giving you cancer."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Will greeted Nico with a blinding smile as they met up on their way to the shores of the Long Island Sound.

"Look at that! Nico di Angelo has actual, human legs!"

Nico held his towel so that they somewhat hid his bare shins. "I feel so exposed."

Will laughed. "You look fine! Come on, they'll all be waiting for us."

The two boys walked side by side towards the beach. Nico couldn't stop himself from stealing glances at Will, who looked amazing in his plain white shirt and blue swim trunks of the same hue as his eyes (not that Nico often stared into Will's eyes...). Nico felt meager compared to Will with his black T-shirt, black trunks, and pale, skinny legs on display for the world to see.

"Whoa." Will stopped abruptly when they reached their destination.

Nico peered around. Percy and Jason were in the water and seemed to be racing each other, which was futile on Jason's part since Percy was literally a son of the sea. Lou Ellen and Cecil were also in the water "sword fighting" with pool noodles. Piper sat on a towel on the sand, watching the others with a face of amusement, and nearby Calypso was creating a sand mermaid tail around Leo's body. But what caught Will's attention was Annabeth and her partly finished, exquisitely detailed sand castle.

"That's incredible," Will commented, clearly impressed.

Nico nodded in agreement, admiring the Annabeth's skills.

Will directed his attention back to Nico. "So—"

He was cut off suddenly by a high pitched scream. The two looked to see Cecil with a face of pure terror frantically flinging a snake across the water while Lou Ellen laughed like a maniac. Apparently she had turned his pool noodle into a snake.

"Oh gods, he's terrified of snakes!" Will quickly ran towards his friends to quell the situation.

As Nico pondered the irony that Cecil was the son of the god whose symbol was two snakes around a staff, he laid out his towel next to Piper's and plopped down.

"Hey Nico! Come to enjoy the sun?"

Nico shrugged. "I don't particularly _enjoy_ the sun."

Piper smirked and glanced towards Will. "You seem to be enjoying the sun a lot more these days."

The son of Hades didn't say anything.

"Nice bathing suit, by the way."

"Thanks." Nico tugged at the drawstrings on his trunks. "It's a little loose, but as long as no one yanks on it, it should be fine."

Piper chuckled. "Yeah, you wouldn't want to accidentally flash Will." She lowered her sunglasses and winked at Nico. "And everyone else, of course."

"I don't—"

"di Angelo!" Nico turned to see Percy trudging out of the water towards him. "Nice to see you in the sunlight! I was beginning to think you were an actual vampire as your cabin suggests."

"Ha ha, very funny."

A year ago, if a shirtless Percy had stood over him like that, Nico's internal organs would have most definitely melted into jelly. Not that he didn't like looking at Percy's body (because anyone with eyes could see he had a great one), but it was just nice knowing he had truly gotten over his crush. And things weren't too awkward between the two boys, so that was a plus.

"You gonna come in the water or what?" Jason asked as he appeared next to Percy. "I need some help taking this asshat down."

Percy scoffed. "Not likely, Grace."

Nico opened his mouth to respond when Will came running back. "All right, got those two under control, at least for the time being." He gestured towards Lou Ellen and Cecil, who were now attempting to share the one remaining pool noodle. "Now, let's swim!"

The son of Apollo took off his shirt, and Nico's breath caught in his throat. Sure, Will didn't have as much muscle as Percy or Jason, but he also wasn't a stick either, and it didn't help that he had the perfect beach tan the other boys lacked.

Will held out his hand. "Come on, Death Boy."

Out of the corner of his eye, Nico could see Piper watching him with a silly grin on her face.

"I, um," Nico stuttered while staring at Will's outstretched hand. "Okay." He grabbed it and allowed Will to help him up as he tried to look anywhere but Will's bare chest. Yep, he was completely over Percy, but he had fallen face-first for Will.

He glanced back at Piper. "Are you going to join us?"

She quickly shook her head. "Oh no, I am _not_ getting into the water." Then she smiled. "You guys have fun!"

Jason bent down and pecked Piper on the cheek before running towards the water. Percy did the same with Annabeth, whose sand castle started to look more and more like Hogwarts. Will immediately plunged in, but Nico waded in slowly, stopping when it reached his knees.

"You just gonna stand there?" Will shouted from a way's out.

"I'm taking my time!" Nico yelled back; however, he didn't realize that two boys were sneaking up beside him until Jason and Percy grabbed him from either side and lifted him off the ground. "Grace, Jackson, what the _hell_ are you doing? Put me down!"

"Not a chance, Nico," Jason said, keeping a grip on the smaller boy despite his attempts to punch him in the face.

The two swung the son of Hades back and forth.

"One." Nico socked Percy right in the jaw. "Two." Nico threatened to shove a femur bone up their asses. "Three!" Nico went flying through the air.

The cool water rushed over him as he submerged with a soft thud. It was actually kind of refreshing, that is, until he felt something grab his waist, which sent him into panic.

"Holy shit!" Nico yelped once his head was above sea level. Nearby, Will's head emerged from the water as well.

"Whoa whoa, don't kick!" He laughed. "It's just me."

"You startled me." Nico's cheeks pinked slightly as he recalled Piper's comment about his loose trunks. He then remembered what brought him into the water in the first place. "I am going to send so many skeletons after those two!"

He lifted his hand, but Will seized his wrist. "You will not! No using your Underworld-y powers!"

Nico glared at the son of Apollo, but he didn't seem the tad bit fazed. Instead, he just smiled. "You gotta admit though… that was sort of funny."

The son of Hades huffed. "Maybe a little."

Just as he realized Will's hand still held Nico's wrist, a small tidal wave crashed against their heads. After wiping the water from their eyes, they peered around to see Percy laughing.

"That's it," Will declared, "He is so going down!"

Nico smirked and nodded, and he, Will, and Jason all splashed Percy at once. Lou Ellen and Cecil noticed what was happening and began to whack him with the pool noodle, and soon Leo and Calypso dove in to contribute their own splashes against Percy. Even Annabeth abandoned her sand Hogwarts to help take her boyfriend down, and Piper stood with her feet in the water, shouting demands mingled with charmspeak, telling Percy to stop using his powers and quit moving. The battle raged on for an hour before Percy finally surrendered to the others, although his excuse was that he simply had to pee.

* * *

After spending the rest of the afternoon on the Long Island Sound, Will and Nico trekked back to their cabins together.

"Well, that was a fun day," Will commented.

"Yeah, it actually was. Is that what normal teenagers do?"

"To an extent." The two reached the door of the Hades Cabin. "I'm glad I could get you out into the sun… although I think you forgot to put sunscreen on your ears."

Nico touched his ears in embarrassment. "Oh well. By the way, thanks again for the swim trunks."

Will smiled. "My pleasure. You're lucky I didn't go with the green striped ones I found." He laughed when Nico scrunched up his face at the thought of wearing green. "Hey, I think they would have looked great on you." He clapped the other boy on the back. "Anyway, I'll see you at dinner, Death Boy."

"Later, Sunshine."

Nico slowly entered his cabin, his mind reeling from the events of the day. He had barely closed the door when a knock made him open it once more.

"Piper?"

The daughter of Aphrodite stood there with the same grin she donned when Will took off his shirt at the beach.

"I just wanted to let you know that I totally approve."

"Um… approve of what exactly?"

She stepped closer. "I approve of Will Solace."

Nico wanted to tell her he had no idea what she meant, but instead he just sighed, horribly red in the face. "I approve of him too."

* * *

**A/N: Y'all are rock stars for continuing to read this. Thanks!**


	17. First Date

**I meant to finish this yesterday, but I actually was sociable for once. **

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

_Knock knock knock._

...

_Knock knock knock._

"Grace, if you have another question about Persephone, I already told you I don't know her that—Will?"

Nico was surprised to find the son of Apollo standing in his door way, but he immediately felt his heart skip about three beats upon seeing his face. A few days ago, the two kissed for the first time, and since then they hadn't really gotten the opportunity to talk about how to proceed with their relationship (thanks to a Hecate cabin spell keeping Will busy with the infirmary). All Nico knew was that he _wanted_ to proceed.

Will smiled at the son of Hades, who had a serious case of bed-head. "Hey, Death Boy."

"Why are you here so early? It's only seven."

"Yet you expected Jason to be standing here?" Will asked, squinting his eyes at the other boy.

Nico leaned against the doorway. "I expected to shove a skeletal foot up his ass for waking me up."

Will's grin faltered at once. "Oh gods, I woke you up? I'm so sorry, Nico! I know full nights of sleep are rare for you."

"It's fine," Nico responded. "I was actually starting to have a nightmare, so in a way, you kinda rescued me."

Will beamed again, his cerulean eyes staring into Nico's dark ones.

"Right," Will said finally, breaking their eye contact. "I just came because I needed to ask you something, and I had to do it before I went to the infirmary."

Nico nodded, and Will figured that was an invitation to continue.

"So I was thinking—no, wondering—er, pondering—that maybe we should hang out, like a together sort of thing… you know, doing an activity…" He trailed off at the sight of Nico's confused expression. "Okay, let me try this again." He took a deep breath. "Nico di Angelo, would you go on a date with me tomorrow night?"

Nico couldn't prevent the corners of his mouth from turning upwards. "Um, yeah. That sounds nice actually."

Will's relieved smile nearly lit up their entire Hades cabin. "Great! That's really all I wanted to ask, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow night! Or well, I'm sure I'll see you around camp before then, but—"

"Yes, Sunshine, I'll see you tomorrow night."

The son of Apollo stopped rambling and pecked Nico quickly on the cheek. Nico watched Will walk towards the infirmary with a slight bounce in his step while his own heart threatened to leap right out of his chest.

* * *

"Nico di Angelo, look at you," Piper whistled.

The daughter of Aphrodite stole a black button up shirt from one of her half-brothers for Nico to wear with a pair of black jeans, and Piper had to admit, he looked _good_.

Nico ran his hand through his recently shortened hair. "Are you sure your brother doesn't mind me wearing his shirt? I've been told I smell like death."

Piper scoffed. "He can deal. And besides, you smell fine."

She straightened Nico's collar and smiled at him encouragingly.

"Not gonna lie, I'm super nervous."

"Nico, I'm sure Will is just as nervous as you are. You two really like each other, anyone can see that, and I know everything will be great." Nico managed a small smile. "Come on, he's probably waiting for you at Thalia's pine tree."

Piper opened the door to a grinning Jason.

"Jason, what the hell are you doing?"

"We," Percy stepped into view, "are here to escort our dear Nico to his first date."

Nico placed his face in his hands. "Oh gods no."

Jason wrapped his arm around Nico's shoulder and led him out of the cabin. "Now now, don't be embarrassed. We just want to see you off."

Percy walked on the other side of Nico. "Yeah, and tell you how happy we are that you found your type." He patted the son of Hades on the back. "Even if it's not me."

The rest of the journey to Thalia's tree was occupied by Jason and Percy giving Nico first date tips ("Don't eat anything too garlicky" and "Don't forget to compliment Will's choice of attire").

"All right, this is where we leave you," Jason said when they were about twenty feet from where Will stood.

Percy pretended to tear up. "Our little Nico has grown so fast."

Nico let out a small laugh. "You guys are idiots. But thanks for supporting me."

Jason pushed Nico in Will's direction. "Have fun!"

"Go crazy!"

"But make good choices!"

Nico was rolling his eyes as he reached Will, who looked rather handsome in his white button up.

"Wow, we really are opposites, eh?" Will commented in regards to their contrasting colors. "But you look great!"

Nico blushed. "So do you."

Will gestured to the car parked nearby with Argus sitting in the driver's seat. "Shall we?"

"Argus is driving us to our date? Wouldn't it just be easier if I—"

"You are not shadow traveling!" Will opened the car door for Nico. "Now, get into the car."

Nico put his hands up in defeat and slid into the backseat.

The car ride to the city was... awkward... mainly because Argus kept a few eyes on the boys in the back, probably to make sure they didn't do anything inappropriate. Nico felt better once Argus dropped them off and it was just him and Will... and the swarm of people on the streets of New York City, of course.

Will held out his hand and Nico took it without any hesitation.

"So where exactly are we going?" Nico questioned as they trekked through the crowded streets.

"I know a great ice cream parlor not too far from here."

Nico stared at him incredulously. "You, Mr. Doctor Health Nut, are taking me to get ice cream?"

"Just because I'm a healer and care about health, doesn't mean I don't enjoy ice cream- in moderation," Will countered.

Nico just smirked in response. Five minutes later, the two entered a small ice cream parlor.

"This is cute," Nico commented.

Will dramatically gasped. "Nico di Angelo thinks something is cute?!"

"Shut up. I also think some_one_ is cute."

"Was that your attempt at flirting?" Will asked with his own flirtatious grin.

Nico rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "Was it that bad?"

"Nah, it's actually kind of working."

Will gazed down at the other boy and slightly leaned closer, happy to see that Nico didn't falter or look away. That is until the teenager behind the counter interrupted them.

"What'll it be for you?"

The two jumped and pretended to peer thoughtfully at the various ice cream flavors.

"Um, so what kind of ice cream do you like, Death Boy?"

Nico read the labels for each type. "I don't know..."

"You don't know?"

"Well, I haven't had ice cream since coming back to real time, and I can't remember what I liked before I took a bath in the Lethe."

Will pondered Nico's predicament. "Hmm how about you go save us that table over there, and I'll pick out some ice cream for you."

Nico fished some cash from his pocket. "All right, but here—"

"Oh no, I will pay for it. Coming here was my idea." Before Nico could protest, Will pushed him towards the open table.

A minute later, Will sat down across from Nico and handed him an ice cream cone.

"This just looks like vanilla," Nico said, accepting the cone. He tested the flavor with his tongue. "Okay, so vanilla, but slightly altered?"

Will licked his own cone. "It's called 1905 Vanilla. I figured it was kinda fitting for you."

"1905 isn't even close to the year I was born!" Nico pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's closer to your birthdate than today's date is." Nico made a strange movement with his head as if to reluctantly agree. "If you don't like it, I can get you another one."

Nico shook his head. "No, I like it! I really do. Thanks, Sunshine."

Will watched Nico closely as they both enjoyed their respective ice cream cones.

"Hey," he said suddenly. "I gotta ask you something."

"Hmm?"

Will leaned forward. "What was your first impression of me?"

Nico stopped licking his cone. "What? Why do you want to know that?"

The son of Apollo shrugged. "My mom always told me that often first impressions are worth a second glance. I'm just curious as to what made you give me a second glance."

"I don't know," Nico began. "I guess technically the first time I saw you was during the battle of Manhattan when you were healing the injured, but I didn't really take notice of you until I nearly decapitated you during the battle with Gaea."

"And?"

"And... You seemed annoyingly charismatic." Will laughed at that. "But you also seemed to care about me. Like genuinely care about me. For some reason you really wanted to be my friend, and I didn't understand it."

"Yet you had a huge crush on me immediately due to the winning combination of my charming good looks and dazzling personality," Will added, wiggling his eyebrows.

Nico blushed. "I can't exactly deny that—well, most of that." He took a large bite out of his cone. "So what about me? What were your first impressions?"

Will finished his ice cream cone with a loud crunch. "I could see through your facade. You put up these walls of darkness, but I knew behind that you were just in need of a little sunshine. I became determined to be that for you." He placed his hand on Nico's. "And although you proved to be a stubborn bastard and a smart little pig who built his walls out of bricks and steel, I think I succeeded."

"You did, Sunshine." Nico sighed and looked down at the table. "I guess I put up those walls because I was trying to block out all my pain. I just thought it was safer to hold every card, you know?"

Will nodded. "I get it." He squeezed Nico's hand a bit tighter for reassurance. "So shall we explore more of Manhattan?"

Nico perked up. "Yeah, I'd like that!"

Hand in hand, the son of Apollo and the son of Hades wandered aimlessly through the streets, enjoying the cool night and each other's company. They walked for an hour together, passing through Times Square and by Broadway (Will sighed wistfully in the direction of the various theatres).

"We should probably Iris message Argus soon to take us back," Will said, slowing his pace. "This went really well, I think."

"It actually did," Nico agreed. "So does that mean I get to choose the venue for our next date?"

Will stopped abruptly, a huge beam painted on his face.

"Whoa, you might blind someone," Nico teased. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"Because you want a second date."

"Of course, I want a second date. And a third date, and a fourth date..."

Before Will could stop himself, he cupped Nico's cheeks and kissed him, and Nico, although caught off guard, happily kissed back, ignoring all the people around them.

"So," Will said when they broke apart, both incredibly red in the face, "I'll go ahead and contact Argus now."

"Actually, I have a better idea." Nico put his fingers to his mouth and whistled.

"Wha—?" Will turned around to see a huge, black fur ball bounding towards them.

"I may not be able to shadow travel, but Mrs. O'Leary can."

Once they were back at camp, Will decided he did not like shadow traveling. But he _definitely_ liked Nico.


	18. Death by Salsa

**Holy crap, I can't believe I reached 100 reviews! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed; you guys are amazing and never cease to make me smile. Honestly, y'all are way too kind. And a big thank you to all who continue to support this strange conglomeration of random one-shots! :)**

**I don't even know what's up with this chapter; it was such an out-of-the-blue idea and I kind of just ran with it. There might be some OOC-ness... just a fair warning.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Nico watched his boyfriend with amusement.

"Um, Sunshine, are you okay?"

Will took a small bite of the taco he got for lunch. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Well," Annabeth said from her spot across the Hades table. "Your face is extremely red."

"Is it?"

Piper, who sat beside Annabeth, nodded. "It's redder than Nico's face was that time Percy told him he had a cute butt."

The entire table laughed at the memory as Nico blushed profusely and muttered something incoherent.

Will patted Nico on the back. "Hey, he wasn't lying."

Nico shot him a glare, and the table burst out laughing again.

"But for real," Percy began after they all settled down. "What's up with your face?"

"I think these tacos are spicier than usual," Will replied, pointing to the plate of chicken tacos in front of him.

Jason glanced down at his own plate of tacos. "Really? Mine aren't spicy at all."

Leo grabbed Will's plate and examined the food closely. "Of course, these are gonna be spicy, Sunny Boy! You put extra extra hot chili powder on them!"

"What?!" Will pulled his plate back towards him and peered at the tacos himself. Sure enough, his had chili powder while Jason's did not. "This makes no sense! I did not do that to my tacos!"

"I have a feeling I know who did." Nico gestured towards the Hermes table where Connor and Travis Stoll kept stealing glances in their direction.

Will got up, taco in hand, and walked to the Stoll brothers, followed closely behind by Nico (in case he needed to threaten them with zombies).

"May I ask why you two have made me the target of your recent prank?" Will inquired when he reached the two boys.

Immediately, they put on the most innocent face they could muster, and Nico had to admit, if he hadn't known them, he probably would have bought it.

"Solace, we have absolutely no idea—"

"—what you're referring to."

Will held out his taco. "I beg to differ. This has your names written all over it."

Connor put his hands up in mock surrender. "Oh well, I guess you got us. But if it makes you feel any better, we weren't specifically targeting you."

"Yeah," Travis continued. "We just sprinkled the powder on a random plate, and you happened to grab that one."

Will stared at them. "That actually doesn't make me feel better."

Connor shrugged. "It's not our fault you can't handle a little heat."

"Excuse me?!" Will cried defensively. "My father is literally the sun god. How much hotter can you get?"

"Look," Nico stepped in. "You really can't blame Will's fragile tongue for what you two did."

"You'd know all about his fragile tongue, wouldn't you?" Travis commented. The two brothers snickered until Nico raised his eyebrow threateningly, at which point they abruptly stopped.

"Wait, hold up." Will said, placing his free hand on his hip. "What do you mean by 'fragile tongue', di Angelo? I bet even you would think this taco is spicy, despite your unusually high pain tolerance."

Nico eyed the taco challengingly. "Fine, give it here." In three bites, he downed the remainder of said taco. Almost at once, he felt his tongue inflame and sweat begin to form on the back of his neck, but he refused to give Will the satisfaction of being right. Instead, he just shrugged. "Eh, it's a little spicy."

Will crossed his arms. "That's bullshit. You're totally lying!"

"I am not!" Nico was sure, however, that his face was burning red.

"Just admit you have the same fragile tongue that I do."

Connor and Travis glanced back and forth between the other two boys.

"There's only one way to settle this," Connor began.

"A spice-off," Travis finished.

Nico and Will looked at each other, pondering the proposal.

Will smiled finally. "That might actually be kinda fun."

"Or just stupid," Nico countered.

"Nonsense. Connor, Travis, bring every type of spicy substance you have to my cabin—and don't feign innocence. If anyone's gonna have an array of spicy things, it's definitely you two."

* * *

A half hour later, Will and Nico sat across from each other on the floor of the Apollo cabin, separated by two glasses of water and the basket the Stoll brothers provided them with.

"We're going to kill ourselves, aren't we?" Nico guessed as he surveyed the stash.

"Probably," Will agreed. He reached into the basket and pulled out two regular jalapeños, one of which he passed to Nico. "We'll start off basic."

The two boys bit into their own jalapeño, neither flinching nor showing any signs of pain in the process.

"You good?" Will asked, after finishing his jalapeño.

"Of course," Nico replied. "That was a tasty snack."

Will inspected the basket, noticing that the Stolls labeled each item by spice level. "I think we should crank it up a few hundred notches." He shoved a habanero chili pepper into Nico's hand.

They both confidently took a large chunk out of the peppers, only to receive a terrifying shock at the heat that made contact with their tongues. Immediately, sweat formed on their foreheads and their cheeks and necks turned bright red.

Will gestured to the water, somehow maintaining a straight face. "Do you need some water, Nico?"

"Nope," Nico managed to say. "I'm good. That thing was a piece of cake."

"I couldn't agree more." Reluctantly, Will picked up the next pepper, screaming internally when he saw that the label read "Ghost Pepper."

With their confidence completely shattered, they cautiously nibbled at the pepper, but even that was enough to send them into a frenzy, both immediately grabbing their respective glass of water and chugging it down.

Nico slammed his now empty glass on the ground. "All right, Sunshine, let's cut the crap. We're in extreme pain, and clearly, neither of us can handle that much spice."

Will smirked. "Wow, is Nico di Angelo backing down from a challenge? Are you afraid of a little Death by Salsa?" He held up a jar that actually read "Death by Salsa."

"You're just curious to see what it tastes like, aren't you?"

"Maybe a little… but for purely medical reasons. As a trusted doctor, I need to be able to tell my patients with full conviction to never, _ever_ eat this stuff."

Nico sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but," He snatched the jar from Will's hands and pried it open. "You're on."

The two dipped their fingers into the salsa and hastily shoved it into their mouth. The effect was instantaneous. When they reached for their water, however, they both realized it was gone.

"We were very ill prepared for this!" Nico yelled through his frantic pants. They wasted no further time and bolted from the cabin.

It was quite a remarkable sight—Will Solace and Nico di Angelo sprinting towards the showers, tears streaming down their faces and their tongues sticking out of their mouths. The spectacle continued as they entered the showers and stood beneath the faucet with their mouths wide open for a good fifteen minutes.

"We are the biggest dumbasses," Nico stated when they returned to the Apollo cabin and collapsed on the floor, completely drenched.

Will took Nico's hand. "At least we're dumbasses together."

Nico shook his head. "No, no, do not make this moment romantic. This is by far the least romantic thing we've ever done."

"I will admit, this is not on my list of top date ideas," Will concurred. "But watching you let go of your inhibitions for some water was kind of enjoyable. It was a very different side to you."

"A side you will never see again."

Will scooted closer to his boyfriend, his face hovering over Nico's. "That's okay. At least now I know how much heat you can handle."

He leaned in and kissed Nico, but the moment was short-lived as the traces of Death by Salsa still on their lips turned their mouths to fire.

Yep, they are definitely dumbasses.

* * *

**A/N: But they're adorable dumbasses. Yeah, so the original premise for this (that I came up with while waiting for my order of tacos) was "Nico and Will eat spicy tacos", which literally makes no sense because I can't really imagine them casually eating tacos, but I thought it would be a funny idea to spring off of. Next chapter will probably return to cute-sy, cliche, and non-taco related things. **


	19. Fixer Upper

**Obligatory celebration for reaching 100 Favorites! Yay! I honestly can't believe I reached triple digits in all three things! Thank you all so much!**

**So Cupcake Gal, regarding the previous chapter, asked why Percy told Nico that he had a cute butt. Well, I like to think that it's because Percy once accidentally walked in on Nico showering or changing or something like that, and the two vowed to never speak of the occurrence (and obviously, Percy wasn't about to piss Nico off again). However, a few days later in a conversation with the group, Percy somehow mentioned that Nico had a cute butt without providing any context or explanation for his comment, and Nico immediately got all embarrassed at the recollection of Percy walking in on him, but no one else knew of the situation, so they just got a kick out of Nico's big response for what they thought was a simple passing comment (and to this day, no one else knows).**

**This chapter follows a similar format to the "Trying New Things" one.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Those three days in the infirmary may have been the first time Will healed Nico, but it certainly wasn't the last. In fact, Will found himself healing the son of Hades more times than he expected.

The second instance came a few weeks after the excitement of the ending war died down, and Will thought it would've been for something more serious, like Nico sinking back into the shadows, not a wooden bed frame dropped on his big toe.

"You guys didn't have to carry me all the way here," Nico muttered in embarrassment as Jason and Percy placed him in an infirmary chair. "Honestly, I'm fine. I could've walked."

"No, no," Percy replied, beckoning for Will to come over. "You're injured."

Nico rolled his eyes as Will approached the group.

"What happened?" Will asked in his usual concerned tone.

Jason grimaced. "Well, he kind of had an accident—"

"Which you caused," Piper, who stood next to her boyfriend, added.

"Um yes," Jason flushed. "We were helping Nico take out the coffin beds to make his cabin less vampire and more brooding teenager, and part of the bed frame fell on his foot."

Piper scoffed. "And by 'fell', he means he and Percy thought it would be a grand idea to see who could carry the biggest chunk of bed frame, which led to one of them dropping their piece on Nico."

Percy and Jason looked away guiltily.

"Guys, I told you, it's not a big deal," Nico insisted. "Yeah, it was stupid, but there's no reason for a fuss. It's probably just a bruise."

Will carefully removed Nico's right shoe, revealing a red and swollen toe. "Nah, Death Boy, I think it's actually broken."

Nico narrowed his eyes and glared at Jason and Percy.

"Oh gods, Nico, we're so sorry!" Jason exclaimed.

Percy nodded. "For real. Can you fix it, Will?"

"Of course, I can. Toes are simple." Will gripped Nico's toe and whispered in Ancient Greek, and a few seconds later, Nico's toe was as good as new.

"Thanks, Solace," Nico murmured, slightly pink in the face from the awkward contact between his foot and Will's hand.

"No problem," the son of Apollo smiled, standing up. "Although I do recommend that you stay away from these two when they're trying to one-up each other. And you should probably find someone else to help redecorate your cabin."

"I definitely should," Nico agreed.

* * *

The third time Nico required Will's healing abilities was entirely, one hundred percent Nico's fault.

But on the up-side, he won Capture-the-Flag for his team.

It was pretty simple once he and Piper found the location of the other team's flag. All he did was shadow travel to the flag as Piper distracted everyone and shadow travel back to his side. However, he hadn't used his son of Hades powers in nearly two months, so he accidentally shadow travelled right into a tree on his way back.

His team found Nico dazed and bloody-faced with the flag tight in his fist. He smirked, signaling that he was all right, and everyone cheered and praised him for the victory.

Everyone except Will, of course.

"Nico di Angelo, what the hell were you thinking?!" Will yelled after the hullaballoo fizzled out. He crossed his arms and put on his most stern doctor face. "I did not clear you to use any of your Underworld-y powers, and for good reason! Look at your face; gods, you're so lucky something worse didn't happen."

Nico just stood there, blood running down his face and dripping on his shirt.

Will sighed and wrapped an arm around Nico's shoulder. "Come on, to the infirmary you go."

As Will led him out of the forest, Nico glanced at the flag he still held on to and grinned like an idiot. "It was worth it."

* * *

Although the large gash on Nico's arm was a result of Annabeth's sword, he could really only blame himself for it.

He and Annabeth decided to spar that morning, and, despite favoring her dagger, Annabeth had impeccable sword skills and proved to be a worthy opponent (not that Nico ever doubted she would be). They had been going at it for a while, sweat drenching their faces, neither with the upper hand over the other. That is, until Nico caught sight of his new boyfriend walking back to his cabin from the showers minus a shirt with a towel hanging around his neck, water glistening off of his chest in the sunlight.

For the most brief moment, Nico paused, flustered by Will's appearance, so he wasn't prepared when Annabeth whacked him in the gut with her sword, the blade catching his arm in the process. The abrupt force threw Nico off guard and caused him to lose his balance, and he was suddenly pinned to the ground by Annabeth.

"First rule of sword fighting: don't drop your guard," the daughter of Athena said with a smile. "What happened?"

Will ran over to the two, still shirtless. "Whoa, Death Boy, are you okay?"

Annabeth then realized exactly why Nico lost focus, and she burst out laughing. "Geez, Will, you should really put on a shirt. You were just _asking_ for Nico to get pummeled with your choice of attire."

The son of Apollo peered down at Nico, who sat up clutching his arm. "Do you find this… distracting?" He struck a pose.

"Yes, I do," Nico responded, horrifically red in the face. He let go of his arm, and as soon as he did, the teasing smiles of Will and Annabeth immediately disappeared.

"Holy shit, Nico!" Annabeth exclaimed. "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize I sliced you."

"Oh gods, that's pretty deep." Will held his towel against Nico's wound and started to pick him up.

"I can walk perfectly fine," Nico pointed out and stood up on his own. "And really, it's just a scratch. Nothing to worry about."

Annabeth crossed her arms. "We're always going to worry about you." She eyed Will, who still wore a look of concern. "But I know you're in excellent hands."

* * *

And then there was that one time a mosquito took refuge in Nico's cabin and wreaked havoc on his legs.

"Scratching them will only make it worse," Will told him as he continued to scratch furiously at one of the ten bites.

"I don't care; it itches!" Nico complained.

Will scooted closer. "Let me heal them."

Nico rolled up his pajama pant leg, and Will examined the bite Nico had just been scratching at. He began to hum as he carefully bent down and placed his lips on the inflamed bite. Almost at once, the bite cleared up.

"This is so weird," Nico commented, red-faced and heart pounding.

Will kissed another bite near his knee. "What, are my attempts at seduction turning you off?"

Nico playfully kicked Will. "I didn't realize you were seducing me."

"Ah, then my attempts must be failing," Will said with a silly grin on his face.

"Just heal my legs, Sunshine."

One by one, Will kissed each mosquito bite until they were all significantly less irritable before leaning in and kissing Nico on the lips.

"Better?"

Nico nodded. "Much."

* * *

Will hoped, wishful thinking obviously, that Nico's first trip to the infirmary would be the only time he would have to pull Nico from the brink of death. The Fates proved him wrong almost a year later when Nico returned from an errand for Hades. It was lucky that Will was in the vicinity at the moment he appeared in the shadows, an arrow sticking out of his calf, his torn shirt barely covering his bloodstained torso, and his hand clutching his stomach as if trying to keep his intestines inside his body.

Upon seeing the grotesque appearance of his boyfriend, Will's blood turned cold and he nearly froze, but he managed to jump into doctor mode as Nico collapsed, landing right in Will's arms. Before laying Nico on the ground, Will removed the arrow from his leg, ripped off his own shirt, and wrapped it tightly around the calf wound to stop the bleeding there. Will cupped Nico's face, tears streaming down his own cheeks as he noticed Nico's eyes fluttering open and closed and his erratic breathing.

"Stay with me, Death Boy," Will whispered, "I'm gonna fix you right up."

He carefully moved Nico's hand off of his stomach and nearly barfed at the horrendous sight. Will took a deep breath, placed his trembling hands on the wound, and began to sing the most powerful hymn to his father that he could think of. He sang as passionately as he could, even more so than when he sang _I Dreamed a Dream_ in the shower, and he poured every ounce of energy and love into this one hymn.

The healing process was slow, and Will knew he couldn't completely heal Nico in one go-round, but finally the wound started to close. When Nico's breathing steadied, Will withdrew his hands, exhausted and dizzy. The wound looked significantly better, although it certainly was nowhere close to being completely healed, but Will was sure he would live. Relief and elation flooded over him as Nico opened his eyes and gave the son of Apollo a small smile.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," Will murmured before kissing Nico tenderly.

"So, Sunshine," Nico responded hoarsely, "I guess I owe you another three days in the infirmary, huh?"

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was a sudden change of tone, eh? I just really liked how everything came full circle back to the three days in the infirmary because that's the biggest trope for Solangelo fanfiction. Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	20. Home Sweet Home

**Even though these one-shots are all technically unrelated, this one is based off of the comment Will made last chapter about Nico needing someone else to help him redo his cabin. I've had this idea for a while now, but I'm not really sure how I feel about the actual chapter. Ah well, you can't hit a home run with all of them.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan. **

* * *

"It's kind of a mess in there," Nico warned as he and Will approached the door to the Hades Cabin.

"Hey, anything is better than Count Dracula's castle—holy shit!" Will froze when he caught sight of the room. It wasn't the mess that caused Will's outburst though; it was the zombie at the other side placing pieces of wood into a pile. "Um, who is that?"

Nico cracked a smile at Will's reaction. "Oh yeah, that's Jules-Albert, my French zombie chauffer," he answered casually.

Will slowly stepped further into the cabin. "Okaaay, and why is he here?"

"You said I should find someone else to help me redecorate," Nico pointed out. "Although since you're helping me now, I guess I don't really need him. Jules-Albert, thank you, but your assistance is no longer required."

Will yelped when Jules-Albert dropped what he was holding and practically melted into the ground.

"Where did he go?"

"Back to the Underworld until I need him again." Nico set down his sword on a mattress in the corner where Will assumed he was sleeping for the time being since all the coffin beds were now piles of broken wood. "So what do you think about it so far?"

Will peered around the room and noticed several new aspects. The torches of green fire that once graced the obsidian walls were now replaced with sconces made of glass and bronze, and he suspected that regular fire was used instead of lightbulbs. The coffin-shaped beds were obviously dismantled, but leaning against the wall were the different pieces of normal looking bed frames built from wrought iron, waiting to be put together. The biggest change, however, was at the opposite side of the cabin where two plush, grey armchairs sat in front of a large fireplace, lacking fire at the moment, and on top of the mantle was the original shrine of bones and jewels to Hades.

"It looks great! I like the fireplace."

Nico blushed slightly. "Well, I kind of got the idea from you." Will looked at him questioningly. "When you had me in the infirmary, you mentioned that you wished there was a fireplace there to make it seem more homey and comfortable."

Will smiled proudly. "I knew you listened to me!"

"Eh, only on occasion." Nico ignored Will's indignant scoff. "Yeah, the Hephaestus kids built it for me, but I've been deciding whether to put normal fire in it or green fire to match the torches outside."

"Normal fire," Will responded at once. "Green fire just screams _evil villain_."

"How so?"

Will picked up a discarded blood red sheet lying on the ground and threw it over his body before dramatically raising his hands. "Like fire! Hellfire! This fire in my skin! This burning desire is turning me to sin!" He sang passionately.

Nico just stared at him quizzically.

"What, it's from _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_!" Will explained, letting the sheet fall to the ground. "Anyway, didn't those chairs used to be made of bones or something?"

"Yeah, some of Annabeth's siblings reupholstered it and such. They also made me new sheets and curtains." Nico gestured to a pile of folded grey fabric.

"Cool! So I guess we have a lot of work to do then, huh?" Will flashed Nico an eager grin, and although the son of Hades suppressed his blush, he felt his stomach flip a few times as he nodded in agreement.

The two boys spent the rest of the afternoon knee deep in their tasks. They lugged the pieces of the old bed frames to the dumpster behind the Big House (and no toes were injured in the process) and swept away any excess debris, which opened up the space and immediately made the cabin seem less of a chaotic mess. With a cleaner room, Leo was able to come in and put together the new beds ("Wow, Death Boy, he's been back a week, and you're already putting him to work!").

While Leo busied himself with the beds, Nico and Will decided to hang the new curtains on the two windows, but unfortunately for Nico, the curtain rod was slightly too high for him.

Will snickered as he watched the other boy struggle before finally helping him out. He grabbed Nico and lifted him a foot off the ground, much to Nico's chagrin, who let out a strange noise when Will's hands made contact with his waist.

"What the hell are you doing, Solace?"

"Helping a short guy out, obviously," Will replied, ignoring (or rather _attempting_ to ignore) how close Nico's butt was to his face.

"Put me do—"

"Just finish hanging the damn curtains, di Angelo."

Silenced by Will's innate doctor voice, Nico obliged, and when they were up, Will carefully set the boy down, which both relieved and slightly disappointed Nico. Will couldn't help but notice how cute Nico looked with a blush spread across his face.

"See what a little teamwork can do?" Will smiled, his gaze meeting Nico's. The son of Hades nodded, not quite sure how to respond, but Will's gaze was so strong that he had to eventually avert his eyes.

"You know," The two jumped at the sudden voice; both had forgotten that Leo was still in the room, "Will, you could have just hung the curtains up yourself. You're tall enough, aren't you?"

This time it was Will's face that burned crimson. "Uh, yeah, I guess that would have been an easier idea." He quickly put up the curtains on the other window to avoid completing that awkward conversation.

"Anyway," Leo continued, eyeing the boys with a knowing grin, "The beds are done! One for you, and one for Hazel. So I'll just leave you to… whatever." He winked and closed the door behind him.

Nico and Will wasted no time making the beds with the new sheets and pillows. Once finished, Nico placed his things on the bed, which consisted of his sword and a partially open portfolio folder, allowing Will to catch a glimpse of a drawing inside.

"What's this?"

"Oh, um, those are just some drawings that Hazel did." Nico was about to remove the folder from the bed without another word when he noticed Will's curious expression and for some strange reason, decided to let Will see the drawings. "This one's her and me. And this one is of me, Reyna, and Coach Hedge. And that one is my dad—it's actually pretty cool—and that one is— oh…"

Nico trailed off as a beam crept to Will's face. "Is that… you and me?"

"Well, um…" Nico sighed. "Yeah, Hazel drew it after we Iris-Messaged her a few weeks ago to let her know I was healthier. Sorry if this is weird for you—"

"Are you kidding me, Death Boy? I'm honored to be included in these drawings!" Will looked at Nico earnestly, and Nico actually believed his sincerity.

At that moment, the sound of a horn echoed throughout the camp, signaling dinner.

"I guess that means we're done for today," Nico commented. "I told Percy I would spar with him for a while after dinner, and yes, I promise to be careful. We're pretty much done with everything in here, so thanks for helping out and stuff."

Will's eyes remained fixated on the drawings. "Yeah, I, uh, have an infirmary shift tonight anyway." He diverted his attention back to Nico. "And I'm always happy to assist you!"

With one last look around the room, Will and Nico headed off to dinner.

* * *

Later that night, Nico trekked back to his cabin, drenched in sweat and slightly exhausted. The sparring session with Percy ended up taking long than expected because Jason decided to join in, and it became a battle of the Big Three sort of situation. By the time they called it a draw, the sky was painted dark blue, and most of the campers had turned in for the night.

Needless to say, Nico was very surprised when he entered his cabin only to find someone else already there.

"Will, what the hell are you doing here? The harpies are going to be on patrol any min—" He abruptly stopped in his tracks as he noticed some new things in his room that weren't there before dinner.

The first thing he saw was a grand rug on the floor that was mainly dark burgundy with an interesting grey design on it, perfectly complimenting the mahogany wood flooring. His eyes then traveled to where elegant swords hung on the wall in a cool abstract layout. But the most prominent feature by far was the fireplace, which now burned bright with yellow and orange flames, and above the shrine to Hades were all of Hazel's drawings, including the one of him and Will, framed and meticulously placed.

"What did you do?" Nico whispered, utterly in awe.

Will stepped forward. "Your cabin had a Hades-feel to it, but it didn't quite feel like Nico yet. I got some old swords from the armory and scrubbed them clean, thinking they would make a strange but pretty awesome wall art since swords are your weapon of choice. And then I went to the attic of the Big House and found this old rug and a bunch of dusty picture frames." He watched Nico's face carefully. "Do you like it?"

Nico continued to take in the sight of his own, complete cabin as Will anxiously waited for a response. Finally the son of Hades looked right into Will's eyes, and his face erupted into a genuine smile, a spectacle so rare and beautiful that it made the son of Apollo's heart flutter.

"I love it."

* * *

**A/N: I honestly have no idea what's coming next chapter, so stay tuned for more of whatever this story is! **


	21. Stable Friendships

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Nico wasn't sure why he wandered into the stables; it had been a couple days since he was released from the infirmary by Will, and after being cooped up for so long, he enjoyed having the freedom to walk aimlessly around camp. When he entered and stood in front of Blackjack's stable, he still had no clue what his intent was, but he eyed the pegasus cautiously while Blackjack whinnied, which Nico assumed meant _Please take your smell of death and leave._

"Nico, what are you doing here?"

The son of Hades kept his gaze fixed on the pegasus as Percy approached them.

"I think I'm trying to make him not hate me."

Blackjack whinnied again, and Percy cracked a small smile.

"You know, he isn't afraid of you." Nico looked up at him questioningly. "He's anxious because he senses that _you're_ afraid."

"I'm not afraid of pegasi!" Nico cried defensively.

Percy reached out to pet Blackjack. "No, but you're afraid of rejection."

Nico remained silent for a few seconds. "Maybe I am," he finally mumbled.

"Well then, come on. Pet him."

"No, I don't think he wants that—"

"Nico."

He took a deep breath. "Okay, fine." Slowly he moved his hand towards Blackjack until he made contact with his nose. Nico was surprised when the pegasus didn't flinch or shrink away at his touch.

Percy grinned. "See, he likes you!" He watched Nico's entire body relax with each stroke. "Hey, I'm, uh, actually glad I caught you. I've been wanting to talk to you about some stuff."

Nico froze, knowing exactly where this was going. He swallowed. "About what?"

"Well, about what you told me after the battle—"

"Look, I'm sorry if I made things awkward," Nico interrupted quickly.

Percy shook his head. "No, no, you didn't! I'm honestly happy that you felt comfortable enough to tell me. And I'm really sorry I was so oblivious. I kinda feel like a jerk."

"You don't need to feel bad," Nico responded. "Everyone was oblivious."

"Except Bianca?"

Nico didn't say anything. Percy planted himself down on the ground and glanced at the space beside him, which Nico took as an invitation to join him. The two leaned against the stable door in silence.

"How are you doing?" Percy inquired, breaking through the quiet.

Nico shrugged. "I'm healthier, I guess."

"I don't mean physically—although of course I care about your physical health, but I figured the head healer does enough worrying for all of us—I mean, how are you doing mentally and emotionally? You've been through a lot the past few months."

"I don't know," the son of Hades muttered. "The nightmares suck."

"Tartarus?"

"Yeah," he answered shortly, and Percy knew immediately that he wasn't ready to talk about it yet.

"You saved me and Annabeth down there," Percy said quietly. When Nico asked what he meant, he continued, "You visited Bob and told him we were his friends. If you hadn't, I don't think we would have gotten out of there." He gave Nico an earnest look. "So thank you for that."

Nico waved it off. "You're constantly saving my life, so…"

"And you're constantly saving mine," Percy insisted.

"Then we're even."

Percy nodded and held out his hand. Nico hesitated for a moment before accepting Percy's handshake, which made the son of Poseidon beam. Something still tugged at Nico's conscience, however, so he let go.

"Actually, there's one more thing." He paused. "Thank you for trying to save her."

That caught Percy off guard. He opened his mouth to respond, but judging from the expression Nico wore, he could tell the comment was meant to be final. Nico was glad he let the words resonate in the air as he watched Percy pick at a scab on his hand.

"Hey Nico, can I ask you something else?"

"Mmhmm."

"Why me?"

Nico smirked. "Really? After Annabeth, Rachel, Calypso, Reyna, and me, you still have to ask that?"

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, yes?"

"Maybe that's your answer then." Nico rose and began to walk away.

"Wait! One more thing!" Percy stood up. Nico stopped and turned back around. "So what _is _your type?"

Nico's face reddened. "I—Jackson, I'm not gonna talk about boys with you!"

Percy grinned like an idiot. "What, I'm curious!"

As if on cue, a certain son of Apollo entered the stables, carrying a mini doctor's kit.

"Hey Death Boy, I've been looking for you!" He halted when he noticed Nico's crimson face and Percy's silly smile. "Am I interrupting?"

"No," Nico said quickly. "What's up?"

"A surprise health inspection!"

"Solace, I'm a human being, not a three-star restaurant."

Will unzipped his bag. "Of course, you're not. If you were a restaurant, you'd definitely have four stars, maybe five."

Nico rolled his eyes. Percy, who had been peering back and forth between the two other boys, approached the duo.

"So anyway, I'm gonna go see what Annabeth is up to. Nico, about that question I asked a minute ago? I think I figured it out." He ignored Nico's mortified face and patted him on the back. "Oh and Will, that pegasus in the corner stable has been complaining about his upset stomach the entire time I was trying to have a nice conversation with Neeks. You think you could take a look?" Will nodded, and Percy winked at Nico before leaving them alone.

Will watched Percy go. "Neeks?"

"You are not allowed to call me that," Nico snapped, rather harshly. Will's face immediately fell. "I mean, you already have a terrible nickname for me, right?"

"Sure do, Death Boy." Will replied lightly, but his voice seemed to have lost some of its cheer. He pulled out his stethoscope and began to unravel it. "So what were you and Percy talking about?"

"Just some stuff."

"Oh," was all Will said. He placed the stethoscope against Nico's chest a little harder than usual. "Breathe."

Nico did. "Are you okay?"

"Of course. Breathe again."

"You seem upset."

"Why would I be upset? Once more please." Will attempted to keep his voice casual, but Nico could see right through his façade.

He yanked the stethoscope out of Will's hands. "All right, what gives?"

"Hey! What's your problem?" Will cried.

"No, what the hell is _your _problem?" Nico demanded. "You're acting like me." Will sighed and glanced in the direction that Percy went. When he turned back, he wore a facial expression that Nico was all too familiar with. "Oh gods, you're jealous."

Will blushed. "That's ridiculous!" He grabbed the stethoscope back.

Nico crossed his arms. "No, that's the truth. Why are you jealous of Percy?"

The son of Apollo opened his mouth to argue but quickly realized it would be futile and gave up. "I don't know. You and Percy have this profound bond—"

"_Profound bond_?"

"Yeah, you guys seem so open with each other."

Nico scoffed. "Open? Will, I had a crush on Percy for like three years, and I just told him a week ago."

Will's eyes widened in surprise. "Wha—you—," He covered his face with his hands. "Oh gods, I'm an idiot."

Instead of acting angry or agreeing with him, Nico uncharacteristically burst out laughing. "I can't believe you were jealous of _Percy_!"

Will managed an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I guess I've just been working my ass off trying to be your friend and prove to you that you're worth saving, and then it seemed like you were all chummy with Percy, so I thought maybe there's something wrong with me…"

"Sunshine, Percy and I have been through a lot of shit together, but lately, it's been Jason, Reyna, and _you_, especially, who have helped me to not shut people out." Nico stared at the ground. "And I'll get better at opening up. You just gotta bear with me."

"I will, as long as we can pretend this little escapade didn't happen," Will remarked.

Nico shook his head. "I am never going to let you forget this."

Will chuckled. "All right, fair enough. Now let me check your arms for signs of shadow-ish fading." He grabbed Nico's wrist, and the son of Hades felt the same electrical shock as that moment on Half Blood Hill.

"So Percy, huh?" Will remarked as he examined Nico's arms. "I thought you used to hate him or something."

Nico attempted to steady his heartbeat, but to no avail. "I wanted to. I figured if I tried to make myself hate him, my feelings for him would go away. I was terrified of my feelings, especially since the one person who unconditionally accepted me was dead."

Will stopped examining Nico's arms and gazed into his eyes. "I hope you've realized now that you're very much accepted by a lot of people."

"Which still baffles me."

"It's really not that baffling." Will let go of Nico's wrist and picked up his doctor's kit. "I should see if I can help that pegasus over there."

"Yeah, I'm gonna head back, and assist Jason with his insane _pontifex maximus_ duties. Thanks for the laugh… and the reassurance." Nico waved and turned to leave, but he stopped and spun back around. "Are you gonna give me anymore surprise health inspections?"

Will smirked. "Maybe I will, Death Boy."

* * *

**A/N: I think a few people asked for jealous Will, so here ya go. I feel like Will's jealousy wouldn't be over the top or anything, but he would still feel really bad about it because it completely goes against his nature, so that's how I wrote it. Hope you enjoyed! Only nine more chapters left! (I'm rounding it out at 30.)**


	22. A Funny Thing Happened

**Warning: This chapter contains puns.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"All right, so what do I need to know before arriving at Camp Jupiter?" Will asked as the Camp Half-Blood vans bustled along on a California road.

"Well for starters, never lie to Reyna," Nico responded.

"And don't mess with armless statues," Percy piped up. "Oh, and protect your pillow pets."

Jason chipped in. "Wear your bedsheet with pride."

"And do not fire cannons on them," Leo added. Everyone looked at him. "I cannot stress that enough. Even if you're possessed, _do not fire at them_."

Will eyed them all quizzically. "Not exactly the information I was going for, but thanks."

Nico nudged Will with his elbow. "Hey, don't worry. You're gonna love Camp Jupiter."

"I know, I'm just nervous since things are probably still a little tense between the two camps. I don't want to piss anyone off."

"There's really only one way to collectively piss them all off," Leo said, wrapping his arm around Calypso. "And the good news is that I've already done it, so the odds of it happening again are very slim!"

Calypso smiled. "Let's hope you didn't just jinx us."

Leo opened his mouth to reply when the van slowed to a stop.

"We're here!" Piper exclaimed, and the group piled out to find themselves by the Little Tiber River.

Jason and Percy led the demigods from the three vans to where Reyna and Frank were waiting for them on the other side of the river. When they reached the two praetors, Reyna smiled at Nico before directing her attention to the larger group.

"To those of you who are new, welcome to Camp Jupiter. To those who have been here before, welcome back. I am Reyna, and this," she gestured to Frank, "is Frank. We are the praetors here. Now, if you don't already have someone to show you around, some of our centurions will escort you."

Eight centurions stepped forward and began to divide the Greeks into smaller groups. Immediately, Reyna approached Nico and gave him a hug.

"It's good to see you, Nico. You look much healthier."

Nico nodded. "Well, I had a very stubborn and sometimes annoying doctor."

"Hey!" Will cried defensively. "You left out 'incredibly handsome.'"

Reyna smirked and held out her hand. "Will Solace, is it? Nice to meet you."

Will accepted her handshake. "Likewise." Reyna surveyed him carefully, which made the son of Apollo gulp. "You aren't gonna threaten to hurt me if I break Nico's heart, are you?"

"I don't think I have to." She gave Nico one last smile before turning to greet Piper and Jason, who had a plethora of shrine designs in his hands.

"I like her," Will commented.

"Yeah, so do I," Nico agreed. "She's a great friend and—"

He was suddenly cut off by a loud voice.

"Brother!"

They all looked to see Tyson running at Percy with a giant beam on his face, followed closely behind by Ella the harpy and Rachel.

Will beckoned the red-haired girl over. "Hey Rachel, any luck in finding new prophecies?"

She shook her head. "Nope. The Oracle's been quiet. Though I think we should be grateful I haven't found anything yet; the last thing this bunch of demigods needs is a third Great Prophecy."

As Rachel left to say hello to Percy, Nico finally saw the familiar face he'd been waiting for sprinting towards him.

"Nico!"

"Hazel!"

She flung her arms around him, grinning from ear to ear.

"I missed you so much!" Hazel said when she let go of Nico. "And Will!" She pulled him into a hug as well. "I'm so happy I can finally meet my brother's boyfriend in person."

Will smiled back. "It's great to meet you too!"

Together the three of them walked towards New Rome. Nico and Hazel chatted amiably, and Will realized how much he loved watching them interact, probably because Nico was so different with her than he was with anyone else. When they all neared the boundary, Hazel stopped.

"We can catch up more at dinner, big brother. I'll let you give Will here the grand tour of the city while I go hang out with Annabeth and Piper." She hugged Nico once more, who then removed his sword and handed it off to her.

"No weapons are allowed beyond the Pomerian line," Nico answered Will's unspoken question.

Once cleared across the line by Terminus (Will had a sneaking suspicion he was the armless statue Percy warned about), the two boys wandered through the awe-inspiring city together. Nico took him for a romantic walk in the Garden of Bacchus, which Will thoroughly enjoyed, although he would have enjoyed a walk in a junk yard if it meant he got to hold Nico's hand. After passing by the five-story tall Coliseum, Nico suggested they go to the Forum.

"It's actually pretty cool," Nico remarked as they trekked on the streets of New Rome to get there.

Will snickered suddenly. "So A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

Nico waited for him to continue, but instead he just chuckled to himself.

"Huh?"

"What, Death Boy, you haven't heard of that before?"

Nico scrunched his eyebrows. "Um, no, because you haven't told me what happened on the way to the Forum yet."

"Oh no, it's… the name of a musical…" Will sighed. "Never mind. Wrong audience."

Right on cue, Austin and two other Apollo kids passed them, led by a Roman daughter of Apollo.

"Hey guys, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum!" she exclaimed, earning a fit of laughs from the others.

Will huffed in disbelief.

"Sorry, Sunshine," Nico said, although he didn't really sound sorry. Will shrugged, and the two continued on their path.

All of a sudden, Nico felt something small near his ear and heard a very loud buzzing. He turned his head quickly to see a bee floating right by him and swatted it away. The bee didn't leave him alone, however, and instead brought a few friends back with it. Nico halted and waved his hand around to make the bees go away.

"Um, what are you doing?" Will questioned.

"There are, like, seven bees that won't leave me alone!"

"Seven?" Will smirked. "I think I'll name that one Jason, and that one Percy, and—"

Nico glared at him. "Not helping."

He kept swinging his arms and legs around frantically, causing many people on the streets to stare at him. Will figured that from a distance, they all probably thought Nico randomly decided to break out into a strange interpretive dance, and the idea of that made Will burst out laughing.

"Stop laughing! Why are they all attracted to me?"

"Maybe because you're so bee-utiful."

"That's not funny, Solace."

"Those bees just can't bee hive themselves."

"I swear to Hades, I will punch you."

Will stopped laughing and looked at Nico, completely pokerfaced. "That would really sting."

Nico's murderous glower only added fuel to the fire, and Will broke into hysterical laughter once more.

"Gods, go bother someone else!" Nico yelled out in frustration as one bee attempted to fly under his shirt.

"Death Boy, you're the one with the clothes that smell like honey."

Nico glanced up in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Will waved his hand to help deter the bees. "You've smelt like honey all day. I was gonna mention it to you earlier. You mean you didn't notice?"

Nico shook his head as the door of a nearby sweet shop opened and a person dressed in a beekeeper's suit exited, carrying a small contained bee hive. This person quickly ushered in all the bees before removing the protective face covering.

"I'm so sorry about that!" the women in the suit told him. "My son knocked our bee hive over. He's a legacy of both Mars and Mercury, and it's definitely starting to show."

"Um, that's all right," Nico said, examining his body for any stings. "I'm fine."

She smiled at the two boys. "They probably just really liked the smell of your shirt. I would advise not washing your laundry in honey flavored detergent."

They watched the women take her bees back into her shop.

"I don't wash my laundry with honey flavored detergent," Nico stated.

Will sighed. "You don't. But I have a feeling Cecil does."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Why would he do that?"

"I'm pretty sure the Stoll brothers are trying to pass on their legacy," Will noted.

"I'm going to shadow travel all three of them to Siberia and leave them there." Nico kicked a pebble in anger.

Will kissed his boyfriend's cheek. "No, you're not. Now come on, I want to see the Forum."

Nico grumbled but agreed. The two had barely taken five steps when Will stopped and began to chuckle, which quickly turned into more uncontrollable laughter.

"Will, what the hell?" The son of Hades scowled at the boy in front of him.

"Don't you see, Nico?" Will managed to get out with tears streaming down his face. "A funny thing _actually_ happened on the way to the Forum!"

* * *

**A/N: I've waited 22 chapters to make that joke, and I'm probably the only one who found it funny. I also don't know why, when trying to think of something funny to occur, my mind immediately went: "bees?" **


	23. King of New York

**Because my birthday is in two days (7/18), I decided to do a chapter about Will's birthday. I'm actually pretty happy at how this one turned out, so I hope you enjoy it as well!**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Will didn't want anyone to make a big deal out of it. Yes, today was his sixteenth birthday, which was pretty substantial for a demigod, but for him it was just another normal(ish) day. Of course, his siblings had other ideas, so Will wasn't really surprised when he awoke to a large cake shoved under his nose and a perfectly on pitch performance of the "Happy Birthday" song.

"Guys, I told you not to do anything special," Will reminded them after he blew out his candles.

Kayla placed her hands on her hips. "Did you really think we would listen? You're our head counselor; we _had_ to do something for you." She gestured to the cake. "Now, shut up, and eat your cake."

"Cake for breakfast?" Will asked, appalled. "That is not a hearty meal." A collection of groans followed. "You all know that I will not compromise health for such a trivial matter."

"But... it's confetti cake," Austin mumbled dejectedly.

Will sighed, noticing the disappointed faces. "Okay fine, after we've all had a decent breakfast, we can each have a piece. All right?" Everyone perked up and nodded in contentment. "Can I get dressed now?"

After the Apollo kids forced Will into a special shirt, they all headed to the dining pavilion. Austin insisted that they carry Will, but he firmly put his foot down, so instead they settled for trailing behind him, singing "For he's a jolly good fellow" the whole way there. As much as he loved his siblings and appreciated what they were doing for him, Will was slightly relieved when they scattered to grab their respective meals until Apollo himself intercepted him as he was reaching for some pancakes.

"Happy Birthday, son!" He yelled, clapping him on the back.

"Um, thanks... Dad."

Apollo smiled brightly. "In honor of this wondrous day, I have written you a fabulous haiku."

"Oh that's not necessary—"

"_Will is my great son_

_Whose birthday is on this day._

_His father is hot._"

Will attempted to keep a poker face. "Wow, that was awesome. Thanks."

Finally Will managed to get his food, and once he burned some of it (which was very awkward with his father hovering right over his shoulder), he happily slid into his usual spot next to Nico, who promptly leaned forward and kissed him.

"What was that for?" Nico pointed at Will's shirt, the one his siblings forced upon him, that read _Kiss me, it's my birthday!_ Will sighed. "Yeah, they're so funny."

Nico smirked. "I like it." Then he became dead serious. "But if any of you try to make me wear that on my next birthday, you'll have a metatarsal bone stuck up your ass for six months."

Everyone at the table nodded quickly, knowing Nico would certainly make good on that promise.

"Hey Will! Happy sixteenth, man!" Percy exclaimed, taking his spot across from him. "And congrats on not fulfilling a terrifying prophecy as a result of turning sixteen. Hooray for no one dying today!"

"The day's still young," Nico said nonchalantly.

"Death Boy, your optimism never ceases to keep me going," Will remarked with a chuckle. "But thanks, Percy."

The son of Apollo began to eat his breakfast. Every so often, someone would come up and wish him a Happy Birthday, but luckily his siblings hadn't planned anymore surprises for him. When he finished his food, he stood up.

"Wait, where are you going?" Nico asked.

Will wiped his mouth on a napkin. "I have an infirmary shift to get to."

"What?" Leo cried. "You're working on your birthday?"

"It's a short shift," Will replied. "Besides, I'd rather spend my birthday doing what I love most: healing people."

He turned to leave, but Nico grabbed his hand. "Don't forget, this evening you're mine." Will raised his eyebrows suggestively as the rest of the table snickered, and Nico's face immediately burned a bright shade of crimson. "I didn't mean it like that!"

Will laughed and kissed Nico. "I know, I'll see you later."

* * *

The few hours at the infirmary were pretty simple—mostly just a few cuts and bruises, courtesy of a small Athena/Ares squabble. After his shift and a karaoke party with the other Apollo campers, Will headed toward Half-Blood Hill to meet Nico, donned in his favorite blue button-up and khaki shorts. He had to admit, although he tried to request no fancy, over the top gestures of celebration, he was very much intrigued to see what Nico had planned for him. He wasn't expecting, however, to receive the first shock of the evening right when he saw Nico, standing in all his glory upon the hill, sporting his usual black jeans and, not black, but a _forest green_ button-up.

"Damn, Nico di Angelo," Will whistled as he neared his boyfriend. "Everyone who said you would look good in green was not kidding around, Mr. Sexy Shirt." Nico blushed, which made Will grin like an idiot. Will liked that even after months of dating, he could still make Nico blush.

"Thanks, Sunshine," Nico replied, beckoning him towards a shadow-y area.

"You're not shadow-traveling us to wherever we're going, are you?"

Nico stopped. "You cleared me for shadow travel months ago!"

"Yeah, for important things!"

"This _is_ important." The son of Hades laced his fingers through Will's, and before Will could protest, the shadows transported them away from Camp Half-Blood.

The first thing Will sensed was solid ground under his feet once more and Nico's hand in his. He then heard the sound of distant traffic and felt a cool breeze against his skin.

"You can open your eyes, Will."

He obliged and immediately gasped. Nico had taken them to the rooftop of some building in the middle of New York City with the most exquisite view: the sun was starting to set, painting the sky in pink and purple hues, and the city lights were turning on.

"This is absolutely beautiful," Will breathed, a giant smile plastered on his face.

"I thought you might like it," Nico said timidly, watching his boyfriend carefully.

Will peered over the edge at the bustling streets below. "Look at me, I'm the King of New York!" He yelled out into the evening air.

Nico laughed at his strange antics. "Okay then, we should probably eat before our dinner gets cold."

"Dinner?" Will turned around to see a table for two set up in the middle of the rooftop.

"I hope you like Italian food," Nico commented, leading Will to the table.

Will put on his most cheeky smirk and whispered into Nico's ear, "I like my food how I like my men—hot and Italian."

Nico rolled his eyes and playfully punched Will in the arm.

"You can be very romantic sometimes, you know," Will noted once they were both situated in their seats.

"I had help," Nico admitted. "Piper and Jason were very eager to assist me."

Will smiled. "Well, I appreciate it." He scooped up a large bite of his pasta, and the moment it touched his mouth, he swore his taste buds sang. "Holy shit, this is amazing! Where'd you get this pasta?"

Nico dug into his own plate. "Piper and I found a small, family-owned bistro nearby. They're actually from Italy, so every recipe is genuine Italian food." He twiddled his fork. "It reminds me of what little I remember of home, and I really wanted to share that with you."

"I'm glad you did." Will reached out and held Nico's free hand. The boys remained that way until their plates were clean.

"Now for dessert!" Nico got up and walked to the edge of the roof. "JASON!" he called out. Within seconds, Jason appeared, hovering in mid-air, and handed the boy something. Nico returned to the table bearing two ice cream cones. "I told you Jason was eager to help. Anyway, I figured since you've already had cake today, you need some ice cream to go with it."

Will accepted the cone. "I couldn't agree more!" He tasted the ice cream, and the beam that followed nearly blinded Nico. "1905 Vanilla! Aww, Death Boy!"

The two enjoyed their dessert in silence until Nico spoke up. "I, uh, also have one more surprise for you."

"What else could you possibly have for me?" Will questioned, crunching at the last bit of his cone. Nico pushed a small, rectangular box towards him, and Will almost cried when he saw what was inside it. "Two tickets to see _Aladdin_ on Broadway?! And they're Orchestra level! Gods, Nico, how did you afford these?"

Nico shrugged. "There are certain perks to having a father that doesn't think you're a complete disappointment."

Will, whose face could not be any brighter, left his seat and pulled Nico into a deep kiss.

"Happy Birthday, Sunshine," Nico whispered when they broke apart, gazing into each other's eyes.

Will wrapped his arms around the other boy and held him close. "Thank you, Death Boy."

The two stayed in their embrace and peered into the night sky, happy to be in one another's company.

"By the way, is being up here even legal?"

"Eh, probably not."

Will laughed. This was by far the best birthday he'd ever had.

* * *

**A/N: I always imagined Will as about 8-ish months older than Nico (so if Nico's birthday is mostly accepted by this fandom [?] to be in January, then Will's would be in May) because that would still technically make them peers. **

**I'm also super excited because I came up with some more ideas for chapters that don't involve salsa or bees.**


	24. I'll Make a Swordsman Out of You

**I had an amazing response to the last chapter, so thank you all for that! This one is a tad bit shorter than usual, but not by much. (I actually had a social life today, so I didn't get as much time to write.)**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"Neeks, are you sure this is a good idea?" Jason asked, watching Nico put on his armor.

Percy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, your boyfriend is healer, not a swordsman."

"I realize this," Nico responded as he turned towards them, "But it can't hurt to try teaching him some basics."

"Actually it can hurt," Annabeth piped in. "Didn't Chris Rodriguez nearly lose a hand once during Will's first and only sparring lesson?"

Percy shrugged.

Nico huffed. "Guys, look, Will has been teaching me some medical stuff, so it's only fair that I pass some of my knowledge onto him. And since I can't exactly show him how to summon the dead or manipulate the shadows, sword fighting is the next useful thing."

"I don't know how you even got him to agree with this," Jason muttered.

"Weeeell…" Nico looked away. "He may have lost a bet."

Annabeth smirked. "That explains why you ate all those salads this week. Did he bet that you couldn't go a week on his healthy diet plan?"

"Something like that." Nico shuddered, "I never want to see a piece of lettuce ever again."

The others laughed but abruptly stopped when a figure approached Nico from behind. Confused, Nico whipped around and found himself face to face with Will himself, who had secured a pillow to each arm, two to each leg, one on his torso and back, and one draping around his head.

"I'm ready to learn," the giant marshmallow squeaked.

Nico surveyed his boyfriend's peculiar appearance, unsure whether to laugh or not (Annabeth, Percy, and Jason were already snickering).

"Um, Will, what the _hell_ are you wearing?" He questioned, his voice dripping with mild concern.

Will stared as if he had no idea what the problem was. "I don't want to get injured."

Nico searched for an appropriate response. "I—"

Before he could finish, Will's deadly serious facial expression morphed into a silly grin, and he burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! I just wanted to see how you would react." He clutched the pillow strapped to his torso. "Oh gods, you should have seen your face! Priceless!"

Nico crossed his arms and rolled his eyes while Will continued to laugh. "Ha ha, very funny. I was genuinely worried about your sanity for a few seconds."

Will held out his pillow laden arms. "What, you mean to tell me that this isn't proper sparring attire? I guess it's only good for… hugging!"

He waddled towards a protesting Nico and squished him against his cushion-y body, much to the embarrassment of Nico and the amusement of the onlookers. Kayla happened to walk by the arena at that very moment, and when she saw them, she did a double-take and froze in her tracks.

"You all right, Kayla?" Will asked his sister after he released Nico from his pillow grip.

"Yeah, it's just," she pointed at the two boys, "you guys look like Baymax and Hiro from Big Hero 6. Like, it's scarily accurate."

Nico had no idea what she meant, but Will chuckled as she went on her merry way.

"So can we get some real armor on you now?" Nico gestured to the armor he had picked out for the son of Apollo.

Will nodded and began to remove his pillows. Once all of the pillows were replaced with regular armor, Nico and Will faced each other, practice swords in hand.

"Are they going to stay and watch?" Will eyed Percy, Annabeth, and Jason warily.

Nico noticed his boyfriend looked uncomfortable at the idea of an audience. "Hey, don't you guys have other tasks to work on?"

Annabeth immediately took the hint and beckoned for the boys to follow her (with Percy pouting about how Nico didn't even say 'please').

Will smiled gratefully. "Thanks. Now, let's get on with this."

"It's not gonna be that bad, Sunshine." Nico positioned himself into a fighting stance. "We'll start with something simple. I'm going to swing my sword, and I want you to block me, okay? Just block me."

Will nodded. Nico swung, and as soon as the two swords made contact, Will's blade few out of his hands. Nico just looked at the weapon on the ground and back at the other boy.

"Your instructions were unclear," Will mumbled as he retrieved his sword, horribly red in the face.

"Let's just try again," Nico said patiently.

It took seven tries before Will could successfully block Nico's swings more than twice in a row. He smiled victoriously when Nico praised him for that.

"Okay, now, you swing at me."

Will's smile faded at once. "Uhh, that's probably not a good idea."

"It'll be fine," Nico insisted.

"You clearly haven't heard the story about Chris Rodriguez then."

"Will Solace, swing the damn sword at me!"

The son of Apollo swung, but it was so timid that Nico easily avoided it, twisted around, and slammed his elbow into Will's wrist, causing him to drop his sword before he even realized what just happened.

Nico sighed and gave the sword back to Will. "Problem number one: this isn't baseball, so don't swing it like a bat. Problem number two: you're too afraid. Each move has to be confident—"

"But I'm not."

"But you have to _act_ like it."

Will's shoulders drooped. "See, this is why my weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. With that, you have distance and more time to aim, think, and breathe." He held out his recently returned sword for Nico to take back. "We should just call it a day and accept that fact that I will never be swordsman."

Nico watched Will's face, which expressed defeat and disappointment. "Fine, we can stop. Buuut, you're going to swing at me once. I refuse to call this lesson a failure."

"Nico—"

"Just one swing, Will." He gazed into the other boy's eyes earnestly. "I know you can do this."

Nico resumed his fighting stance as Will reluctantly nodded. He focused on the weight of the sword in his hand, took a deep breath, and then—

"AAAAHHHHHHH!"

"What the—?"

Will's battle screech caught Nico so off guard that he wasn't prepared for his sword to whack him in the torso at full force. The next thing the he knew, the son of Hades was lying supine on the ground with Will standing over him.

"How was that?" Will beamed proudly.

Nico sat up. "You lack strategy."

Will scoffed. "Are you kidding me? That was the perfect strategy," he crouched down beside his boyfriend and positioned his face extremely close to Nico's, "to get you exactly where I want you."

Before Nico could respond, Will closed the small gap between them. They remained kissing on the ground for quite a while, longer than Nico would ever admit to anyone from the 1940s, until someone cleared their throat behind them. They two boys sprung up to find Annabeth standing there wearing her most smug grin.

"I just came to see how everything was going." She wiggled her eyebrows. "By the looks of things, I guess it's going well."

Nico rubbed the back of his head where it slammed into the ground before, attempting to will his horrific blush off his face. "Um, yeah, though I think it's safe to say that Will should probably stick to healing."

* * *

**A/N: I couldn't resist making that Big Hero 6 reference; I had that idea for a while now. Anyway, only six more chapters left!**


	25. Books, Glorious Books

**Hey there, everyone! Okay, so this chapter ended up a bit longer than intended, and it's kind of a weird concept. I've been wanting to have Nico and Will in a library for some odd reason, so that, combined with the fact that I've been watching this old ancient mystery show, resulted in this little one-shot.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places relating to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

"Hold up, there are _how many_ daughters of Nereus?" Jason stared, wide-eyed, at his mythology book on the table.

Piper gave him a very sympathetic smile. "Fifty."

Jason let out a weird noise that sounded like he was being strangled and slammed his face into the book. "I give up."

"The Nereids are technically sea nymphs, not goddesses," Annabeth pointed out. "Although sometimes Thetis is referred to as a goddess, but that's only because she's one of the most well-known as Achilles' mother and all. Are you sure you have to build shrines for them?"

"I don't want to take any chances," Jason said, lifting up his head. "I would hate to see what the Old Man of the Sea would do to me if I didn't. Besides, he kind of came to me in a dream last night and demanded honors, so that basically answers the question." He returned his head to the former position of defeat.

Annabeth turned towards Nico, who had been watching the ongoing scene in amusement from across the table. "Speaking of dreams, I was actually wondering if you could help me out with something, Nico."

The son of Hades shrugged. "Depends on what it is."

"Let's take a walk." Annabeth stood up and beckoned him to join her, which he did.

"So what's up?" Nico asked, once they were far enough away from the table.

The daughter of Athena pulled out a folded piece of paper from her pocket. "Last night, I had a dream that I think was sent to me by my mother."

"About what?"

"A secret library. At least I assume it's a secret because it seemed pretty deserted, dusty, and partially underground. It was kind of small, but there were books upon books and beautiful decor and Corinthian columns and—"

"Annabeth," Nico interrupted her. "What's this got to do with me?"

She resumed focus on her initial point. "Right, sorry. Listen, I need to get to that library, but I have no idea where it actually is, so I was wondering if you might be able to shadow travel me there based solely on what the library looks like?" She unfolded the paper to reveal a pencil sketch of the library.

Nico examined the paper. "Wait, what's that?" He pointed at a part of the sketch.

"A stained glass window of an owl," Annabeth replied. "That image was the most distinct part of my dream, which is why I'm certain it's from my mother."

"It might be a long shot," Nico began, looking closer at the drawing, "but if I can focus specifically on that window, I can probably shadow travel you there."

"Nico di Angelo, you are not shadow traveling anywhere!"

The two whipped around and nearly collided into a cross-armed son of Apollo.

"And why not?" Nico demanded after he realized what Will had said.

Will looked at him as if the answer was obvious. "This library might be in Ukraine or South Africa or Antarctica for all we know. It could be dangerous and incredibly draining for you."

"Or it could just be right down the road," Nico countered. "I'll be fine."

"You don't know that!" Will insisted.

Nico rolled his eyes. "I could go to the nearest McDonalds and I would still be in as much danger as if I travelled halfway across the world."

Will huffed. "Yeah, because McDonald's is horrifically unhealthy for you."

"Guys!" Annabeth butted in. "Nico, if you can't go, it's completely fine. I don't want to overwork you or come between you two over something like this. I can just wait for another dream to tell me how to get there."

She started folding the paper back up, but Nico grabbed it from her hands, suddenly determined to go to this library.

"Will, I haven't shadow traveled in several months! Plus, _you're_ the one who cleared me to use my powers last week, so I am going whether you like it or not."

Will shook his head. "I believe my words were 'you can start off slowly'. This doesn't exactly qualify." The two stubborn boys glared at each other until Will finally sighed. "I'm going with you then. Someone needs to be prepared in case your health declines again."

Nico smirked victoriously and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. "Fine by me."

Annabeth grinned as well. "Great! I'll go get my things!"

"Wait," Will said, stopping her. "Don't we have to clear this quest with Chiron?"

"It's not really a quest… just a short field trip," she replied before turning and dashing back to her cabin.

Will glanced at Nico. "I better grab all the unicorn draught I can find for our, er, field trip."

* * *

An hour and one stomach churning shadow journey later, Annabeth, Nico, and Will found themselves in the middle of an old library. It was considerably small for a library, two stories high and each floor no bigger than the Apollo cabin, but what it lacked in size it made up for in grandeur, despite all the dust. Mahogany shelves bursting with ancient, leather-bound books filled the space of the bottom level, and at the end of each shelf, a different Grecian urn stood, depicting heroes like Heracles, Theseus, and other myths that Nico wasn't familiar with. Corinthian columns graced the walls, acting as supports for the second story, which was completely open in the middle, allowing the three demi-gods to get a good look at what was above. More bookshelves lined the walls of the second floor, and a wooden railing decorated with olive vines wrapped around the opening.

Nico peered up and noticed the same stained glass window of an owl that Annabeth drew. "So I guess that means we made it to the right place, huh?"

Annabeth looked utterly awestruck. "This is definitely the place in my dream." She took off up the spiral staircase at the end of the room and towards the upper level.

"Well, she seems excited," Will commented.

Nico scoffed. "Of course, she is. She's a daughter of Athena in a potentially undiscovered library."

The two remained on the first floor and browsed through the shelves, trying not to get dust in their eyes as they wiped off the books.

"Hey Nico," Will began, after he had to remove a particularly large piece of dust out of Nico's eye. "I'm sorry for getting upset about you shadow traveling. I just really care for you, and I couldn't stand it if something happened to you, especially after you've come so far in the healing process."

Nico reached for Will's hand. "I know. I do appreciate what you do for me, although I'm still getting used to people caring so much, but you can't keep me cooped up in camp forever. I'm not as self-destructive as I was before."

Will smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're not." He leaned in and kissed Nico fondly. "You know, since Annabeth is off in her own world perusing the books, this is kind of like a date."

Nico scrunched his face. "Weird place for a date. For us, at least."

Will shrugged. "We've been on weirder dates."

The two boys continued to walk through the library hand in hand until a book caught Will's eye. Carefully, he removed the blood-colored book from the shelf and opened it to a random page, which contained words in a language neither boy could read and a rough sketch of a dead body.

"It looks like a mortician's journal," Nico commented.

"So basically the book in this library that you'd be most interested in," Will laughed. "Guess I have a good eye."

Nico playfully punched him in the arm and turned to the opposite shelf. "Hey, isn't that the symbol of Asclepius?" He gestured to a rather large, brown book.

"Hmm it is," Will picked it up and examined it thoroughly before opening it. "Yes, it's written in Ancient Greek!"

Nico watched as his boyfriend's expression changed from excitement to slight confusion combined with amazement. "What is it?"

"A medical book, one unlike any I've studied before. And I've studied a lot of medical books, even ancient ones, but some of these practices are completely new to me."

At that moment, Annabeth came running down the stairs, a bunch of books in her arms, and Nico wondered how on earth she didn't trip.

"You guys will never believe what I found up there!" she exclaimed. She somehow managed to grab a small book on top and hand it to Nico. "That right there is a lost play of Euripides!"

Nico peered at it. "The Ancient Greek playwright?"

Annabeth nodded excitedly. "Yes! Not one scholar has ever mentioned this one, yet here it is! Aaaaand, look." She shoved an old leather book into Will's hands. "That is the diary of Helen."

Will stared at the book. "Helen? As in _the_ Helen?"

"Yep, Helen of Troy."

"But they didn't exactly have diaries back then…" Nico remarked.

Annabeth set down her load of books. "No, but she probably talked with her hand maids or something, and they gossiped around, passing it down orally like all of Homer's stories until finally someone decided to put it into writing."

Nico processed everything. "So… where are we?"

"The Library of Alexandria," Annabeth answered with undeniable certainty.

Will shook his head. "But that's impossible. The Library was destroyed a long, long time ago."

"Indeed it was, son of Apollo." The three of them looked towards the entrance to see the Lady Athena herself, clad in Greek armor, her long, raven hair pulled back. Immediately the demigods bowed.

"Mother," Annabeth said, stepping forward.

Athena smiled. "Hello, Annabeth. Enjoying my collection?"

Annabeth stared in awe at her mother. "It's incredible. But how—?"

"The Library of Alexandria was destroyed, a few times actually, but not everything inside it was. I saved as many scrolls as I could and hid them for only a select few knowledge seekers."

Will attempted to wrap his head around the situation. "So, what you're saying is that all of the lost knowledge from _the_ Library of Alexandria is right here."

Athena nodded. "Not all, but most, yes."

"Why not pass this knowledge onto humanity? Why keep it hidden?" Nico questioned.

"What do you think made the library a target in the first place, son of Hades?" Athena's grey eyes poured into Nico. "I could not run the risk of losing all this again. But rest assured, you three are not the only people to have stepped foot amidst the ancient scrolls."

Annabeth watched her mother closely. "You mentioned a select few. Who?"

Athena picked up an old yellowing book. "Oh, just some of my sons and daughters. I remember Da Vinci flourishing from those anatomy books."

Will's jaw dropped. "_Leonardo da Vinci_?"

"The very same." The goddess replaced the book. "Now, I hope you understand that I cannot let you take any of these. They are beyond priceless. However, you are welcome to return as often as you like." She glanced at Nico and Will. "They can join you as well. I can sense they are worthy."

"Thank you, Mother," Annabeth whispered, as Athena smiled once more and disappeared. The daughter of said goddess looked back to the others, tears glistening in her eyes. "Anyway, we should get back to camp. Percy's probably worried by now."

* * *

Once back at camp, Nico and Will trekked hand in hand through camp, pondering on the experience they just had.

"Why are you grinning like that?" Nico asked, noticing the blinding beam on Will's face.

"Athena thinks we're worthy," he proclaimed proudly. "That's pretty remarkable."

Nico shrugged. "More like unexpected. Athena finding a son of Hades worthy just doesn't happen often."

Will bent down and pecked Nico on the cheek. "Well, she's not wrong, Death Boy. You are most definitely worthy of that mortician's journal."

"Whatever," Nico responded, freeing his hand and wrapping his arm around Will's waist. "Come on, let's go see how much progress Jason's made on his 'fifty daughters of Nereus' problem!"

* * *

**A/N: Basically, as the written word evolved from scrolls to books, the knowledge Athena hid evolved as well. If this seems similar to "The Library" episode of Avatar: the Last Airbender, that's probably because I was partly thinking of it the entire time I was writing this.**


	26. This is Halloween

**Yes, I did write a Halloween themed chapter at the end of July. Halloween is my all time favorite holiday because I absolutely adore costumes (fun fact: last year in July I started working on a 31 days of Halloween thing where I wore a different costume every day of October). **

**Also, I'm very excited because this story has officially reached 101 Microsoft word pages! :)**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places related to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Will fiddled with his lab coat as he trekked up Half-Blood Hill, hoping he hadn't kept the others waiting too long. When he reached the top, he saw Jason, Piper, Leo, and Calypso standing by Thalia's tree, dressed in their costumes for the evening.

"Hey!" Will greeted them. "Where are Percy and Annabeth?"

"They went over the school already, just to make sure they'd be able to sneak us in," Jason replied.

The high school that Annabeth and Percy were attending decided to throw a Halloween dance for the students, and the two thought it would be fun if their friends crashed it since demigods don't normally get to be regular teenagers.

Will nodded in understanding. "Ah. Anyway, sorry I'm late. I couldn't find my scalpel." He removed said item from his pocket and shoved it into his old, leather doctor's bag.

Leo pointed at him with exaggerated fear. "You're planning on harvesting our body parts, aren't you? I bet that's what you've done to di Angelo!"

Calypso eyed his nineteenth century-esque English suit, his slightly blood-stained lab coat and gloves, his round glasses, and his un-brushed hair which stood in complete disarray. "Are you supposed to be some sort of mad doctor?"

"Not just any mad doctor," Will answered. "_The _mad doctor. I'm Dr. Victor Frankenstein."

Jason shook his head. "Only you, Solace, would choose to be a doctor for Halloween when you're practically a doctor every day."

Piper gestured to his own costume. "Jason, you're literally dressed as Thor."

The son of Jupiter's long, blonde wig and heavy, red cape billowed in the slight breeze as he glanced down at the replica of Thor's hammer in his hand. "Touché."

Will chuckled. "So Piper, who are you?"

She donned a long, black, Greek style dress, covered her arms in fake blood, and teased her dark hair so that it seemed more mad scientist-like than Will's. Attached to her belt was her dagger, and she held a spiked, golden crown in her hands.

"I'll give you three hints." Piper smiled mischievously. "Jason, revenge, and murder."

Calypso gasped. "You're Medea!"

"Wait, that crazy lady we met in the department store of doom on our first quest?" Leo asked quizzically.

Piper nodded. "Yep! Nice pirate costumes, by the way."

Leo and Calypso both sported white puffy shirts, black coats, pirate hats, black boots, and swords strapped to their waists.

"Thanks, matey!" Leo smiled.

Jason looked at his watch. "Hey Will, is your boyfriend going to join us anytime soon? We're meant to meet Annabeth and Percy in five minutes."

Will peered around, slightly giddy that Nico's friends all acknowledge him as Nico's boyfriend now. "He should be here soon—oh, here he comes! At least I think it's him."

The figure that was presumably Nico wore a plain white sheet over his body with two eye holes cut out and a hastily made paper crown on his head.

Will immediately recognized the eyes peeking out. "Nico, what are you wearing?"

Nico shrugged. "My costume." His voice came out a tad muffled due to the sheet.

Suddenly Piper burst out laughing. "Ghost King!"

It took a moment for the others to catch on before they all joined in laughing as well.

"Nice one, di Angelo," Leo commented.

Will wrapped his arm around Nico's shoulders (since his hand was hidden beneath the sheet). "Come on, we need to get going."

The six of them piled into the camp van, and Argus drove them to the school where Annabeth was standing out front, waiting for them.

"You're late," she remarked when they all scrambled out, very surprised at her choice of costume. She had on a fluorescent pink wig, pants and a shirt of nearly the same color, Greek armor, and combat boots. The armor and boots would have been normal for Annabeth had they not been also painted pink with drawn on cracks the color of fire.

"Annabeth, you look like a piece of chewing gum," Nico noted.

She sighed. "I let Percy choose our costumes."

Percy appeared beside her, excited to see their friends. "Hey guys! Now is the perfect time to go in. The chaperones are busy chasing down a kid who tried to spike the punch." The son of Poseidon looked like an eight year old boy who was obsessed with sharks because every article of clothing he wore was in the shape of the sea creature. "Oh, and great costumes! We're Shark Boy and Lava Girl!"

Those who had seen the movie (namely Will, Leo, and Piper) suddenly understood Annabeth's bizarre appearance.

"As long as you're standing together, you guys actually look pretty cool," Will told them.

Percy grinned proudly while Annabeth smiled, a little less enthusiastic, beckoning the group to follow them into the school. They all managed to make it inside, although one teacher stopped Piper regarding her dagger, but she wormed her way out of suspicion by convincing him via charmspeak that it was just a prop.

"Whoa," Calypso whispered as they entered the gymnasium. It had been decorated with orange and black streamers, fake tombstones, coffins, and a plethora of jack-o-lanterns, and there was even a fog machine adding to the overall effect.

"Anyone else getting major flashbacks of what Nico's cabin used to look like?" Jason teased.

Nico rolled his eyes, and the eight of them scattered amidst the dancing students. As Will and Nico walked through the gym, Will swore he counted at least fourteen black cat costumes and nine different witches.

"You know, I haven't really been to many school dances before," Will said casually while passing by a Harry Potter and Roman gladiator making out.

Nico sidestepped to avoid an overzealous Dracula. "I've only been to one school dance."

"What happened at it?"

"Among other things, Percy showed up and told me I was a demigod."

Will raised his eyebrows. "That's quite an evening. Well, this dance will be way better."

"Any why's that?" Nico responded.

"Because I'm here."

The two of them stopped walking and faced each other. Nico was very glad at this moment to have a sheet covering his creeping blush as Will held out his hands.

"You know, this would be a sweeter moment if I could actually take your hands without awkwardly groping you to find them," Will commented.

Nico scoffed but removed his hands from under the sheet and placed them into Will's. "I'm already having a better time."

Will smiled, but the moment was ruined when a tall guy in a monster mask accidentally bumped into him.

"Sorry, man," he said. "Nice creepy doctor costume though."

"Thanks. I'm Frankenstein."

The guy motioned towards himself. "Nah, _I'm_ dressed as Frankenstein. I have the scary mask and all. You must be confused."

"Frankenstein was the scientist, not the creature," he replied, but the guy had already patted him on the back and left. Will sighed and turned to Nico once more, who he could hear laughing softly.

"Hey," Nico pointed behind him. "What's going on over there?"

The two boys moved closer to see a large tub filled with water and apples that students were sticking their faces in.

Will immediately shook his head. "Oh no, we are not bobbing for apples. That is extremely unsanitary."

"Okay, then how about we make our way to the snack table?" Nico suggested, gesturing to a table nearby. However, when they reached the table, they found only an array of cupcakes, cookies, and candy. "So I guess this doesn't pass Doctor Frankenstein's health code either."

"I'm not always against treats, you know," Will told him. "As long as you don't eat them in excess… like that." Beside them, Leo and Percy were stuffing their faces with cookies. Will selected a chocolate cupcake complete with black icing. "I suppose you can have one cup… cake…" He trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Nico questioned.

"It's just you don't exactly have a mouth hole, so this might be difficult to eat."

Nico shot him a 'challenge accepted' look and lifted his sheet above his mouth with one hand while he grabbed the cupcake with the other. Will watched in amusement as Nico struggled to fit the cupcake into his mouth without getting icing on his sheet (he failed).

"Yum yum," the son of Hades managed to say with a full mouth.

Will smiled, reaching for a napkin. "You've got a little cupcake on your face."

Nico snatched the napkin from him and quickly wiped his face. "Better?"

"Yeah, but you know what would improve it more?" Will smirked.

"Huh?"

"My lips." With the sheet still lifted, Nico's horrible blush was visible, which made Will secretly happy because his face was probably just as red.

After recovering from the initial shock of Will's outright flirty statement, Nico nodded. "I actually agree."

Will grinned and kissed Nico. "Mmm, yep, very much improved."

Nico replaced his sheet just as the song _Thriller _began to play over the speakers.

The son of Apollo gasped excitedly. "Yes, this is the best Halloween song! Let's dance, Ghost King!" He did some weird arm movement and took a few steps to the right, then repeated the move to the left. Despite the sheet, Will could tell from Nico's wide eyes that his facial expression was one of absolute mortification. "Come on, let loose a little. Join your friends on the dancefloor."

Nico peered over to see Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, and Calypso already dancing. "Okay, but you have to promise to never do that move again."

Will nodded and led Nico to their friends. They spent the rest of the night hand in hand, dancing and just enjoying the concept of being normal teenagers. By the time they got back to Camp Half-Blood, Will knew, without a doubt, that this was definitely the best dance either he or Nico had ever been to.

* * *

**A/N: Oh yeah, and someone asked me why I made Athena's hair black in the last chapter: I thought her hair was blonde as well, but then I looked it up on the Percy Jackson wiki to be sure, and it said she had black hair. (Unless I just completely misread it, in which case that is very awkward.)**


	27. This World Will Remember Us

**Just to let y'all know, the following two chapters are going to be very different from all the previous ones. Usually I don't read many AUs (except for a select few) because I'm weird and oddly picky about what fanfiction I read, so I'm kind of surprised that I came up with this. I randomly started meshing Solangelo with Bonnie and Clyde and thought "hey, why not?" However, I had to split it up into two chapters due to the amount of material I wanted to include, and I just didn't have any motivation to write all of it out today (plus I had to get a shot, TB test, and blood drawn today, so my arms are a little sore). I make a lot of references to the musical _Bonnie and Clyde_, but if you've never seen it/heard the soundtrack, the story will still make sense. Oh, and they're in their early twenties in this, which is why I refer to Nico as a man.**

**Without further ado, I present Act I of my Bonnie and Clyde AU- This World Will Remember Us.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places related to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan. All material from _Bonnie and Clyde_ belongs to Frank Wildhorn, Don Black, and Ivan Menchell.**

* * *

Will slowly exited the back door of the diner he worked at, the hot sun shining on his face. He wiped his hands on his apron and leaned against the wall, wondering how much longer he would be stuck in this town as a mere waiter instead of living out his dream as a big time star. He wanted to be in the picture shows, and he couldn't do that in an old town in the middle of Texas.

"I can see me now: the main attraction at the picture show, the guy everyone wants to be," Will mumbled to himself, daydreaming about what was so far away. However, a loud clanking nearby quickly jerked him from his wishful thoughts, and he carefully walked around the building to find just an empty car.

He was about to turn back when a man stood up from the other side of the car, catching Will by surprise. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"Hello," the man said confidently.

"Hi," Will replied, eyeing him warily. The man had black hair and dark eyes that gleamed with a hint of mischief, and he wore a white, long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark brown pants, and matching suspenders. He seemed like a normal guy, but Will could tell there was something different about him. "What are you doing here?"

The mysterious man patted the car. "Just admiring this fine piece of machinery."

Will raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of men trekking somewhere behind them cut him off.

The guy's eyes widened. "Police!" He ducked under the car.

Will watched the police pass them by at a distance. "You're hiding from the police, aren't you?"

The man poked his head up. "What gave that away?" Upon realizing he was in the clear, he stood once more and walked towards where Will was.

"Were you planning on stealing this car?" Will asked, everything suddenly clicking into place.

The man hesitated. "If I say yes, will you turn me in?"

Will thought for a moment. "I don't know."

"Well, I'll tell you anyway." The guy smirked. "Yes, I was about to steal this car. I gotta get away from the drought, the hungry, and the homeless of this town somehow, now don't I? All the men here die forgotten after living in such boring ways, and I don't plan on being one of them."

"Plus you're also on the run from the police," Will pointed out. "I'm Will Solace, by the way." He couldn't help but feel very intrigued by the man standing before him who shared his exact views of this town and seemed to be the only other person ready to get out.

"Nico di Angelo," the guy, Nico, responded, taking Will's outstretched hand in a firm handshake.

"So, what do the police want you for?" Will questioned, ignoring the fact that he was meant to be back in the diner.

Nico leaned against the car. "My cousin and I were arrested on one count of burglary and two counts of auto theft and sentenced to serve two years in the county jail. I escaped, of course; no cell can hold me in for very long." He tugged at his suspenders. "Nah, I'm gonna make sure this world remembers me, just like Mr. Al Capone."

Will scooted closer to Nico. "You can't leave just yet, not with the police on the prowl for you. It would be better if you lay low for a while, and… I happen to have a place you might be able to stay at."

"You trust me that much already? You hardly know me." Nico glanced over curiously.

"You trusted me before, even though I wasn't sure whether I would turn you in or not," Will remarked.

"And are you gonna turn me in?"

"No." Will smiled. "Besides, you might be my one chance out of this drag of a town."

* * *

"William Solace, how dare you let me harbor a criminal in this house!" His mother shouted, smacking Will in the head as soon as he stepped through the front door.

"Mother, Nico's not a bad guy!"

"He's a _criminal_!" she retorted. "I thought you had more sense than that. Imagine my horror when I discovered that your friend whom we've allowed to stay here the past few weeks is a wanted man and responsible for all those recent store robberies!" She angrily planted herself down in a chair. "Luckily, he's where he belongs now."

Will's heart nearly stopped. "What did you do?"

His mother picked up a magazine and began to flip through it. "I turned him in, of course. He's been given sixteen years to rot in that jail cell, and he won't be escaping this time."

"Sixteen years?!" Will felt as if he couldn't breathe, and he bolted out the door, ignoring his mother's protests. He ran until he reached the county jail, his hands shaking as the seemingly gloating guard led him to Nico's cell.

"Nico!" he gasped when he saw the poor guy on the floor, badly bruised and covered in sweat and blood. Will dropped to the ground and gripped the bars that separated the two of them. "You look like hell."

Nico crawled towards him, and Will could tell that he had already lost so much motivation to live. "The other inmates are all too pleased to use me as their punching bag. Honestly, I wish they'd just kill me."

Will reached through the bars for Nico's bloodied hand. "Hey, whatever happened to 'there's no cell that can hold you'? Nico, you have someone on the outside willing to help you."

Nico looked into Will's eyes, the gears in his head blasting to life. "If you can smuggle in my small gun, I can do the rest."

* * *

That night, with newfound strength and a secret gun, Nico raised hell throughout the jail, bludgeoning guards with pieces of the metal bars and shooting inmates who tried to stand in his way of freedom. Once outside, he found Will and his mother's car waiting for him, and Nico wasted no time striding forward and planting a passionate kiss on Will's lips.

"Thanks, Sunshine," Nico whispered.

Will grinned. "Come on, we gotta get going. The police will be on our tail soon."

The two hopped into the car, Nico in the driver's seat and Will in the passenger seat, and they sped off out of town, driving for a few hours until the sun started to show its morning rays over the horizon. Rather than drive through another town, Nico decided to park in front of a small store that had just opened its doors for the day.

"Stay here," he instructed Will as he climbed out of the car.

Will looked around guardedly. "What are you doing?"

"Supplies," Nico said, taking his gun out of his pocket before heading inside.

A few minutes later, Nico returned to the car, a bag of money in each hand.

"You said you'd go straight!" Will scolded as they resumed their travels once more. "Nico, I wanna be in movies. What kind of movie star does robberies in his spare time?"

"The best kind," Nico smirked. "Look, we need money to get to Hollywood. How else are we gonna get it?"

Will sighed. "I guess you're right… but I'm coming with you next time. I don't want you doing anything too stupid."

For the next week, the duo stopped in a different town each night where they robbed a store the following day and made their escape. Everything always went as planned, except the seventh day when they stormed into a candy store.

"Hands up!" Nico yelled, pointing his gun around the store, with Will behind him doing the same.

The few people in the store quickly obliged.

"Hey, wait a minute," a guy behind the counter said. "You're Nico and Will! Can I get your autograph?"

Will stopped. "You want my autograph?"

The clerk nodded excitedly, his hands raised. "You two are all over the newspapers. You're practically famous!"

Will beamed and walked to the counter. "Well, of course you can have my autograph!" He signed a box of jelly beans with his free hand and tossed it to the clerk. "Everyone can have our autographs, right Nico?"

Nico nodded. "Absolutely." The two signed random items in the store and gave them to the customers. "But—," he pointed his gun back at the clerk. "We do still want your cash."

The clerk scrambled for the money and threw it to Nico. As he and Will turned to leave, Will caught sight of the day's newspaper, and he quickly snatched it before heading back to the car. On the road again, Will couldn't stop staring at the front page.

"I can't believe this. 'Nico and Will Strike Again!' We really are famous!" Will exclaimed. "I always knew I'd make the headlines, but I just wasn't sure how."

Nico flashed Will a smug grin. "We'll be living legends in no time, babe."

Will gazed up at the blue sky. "That's right. This world will remember _us_."

* * *

**A/N: If they seemed out of character... well, that was kind of the point. Anyway, I one hundred percent recommend watching the musical _Bonnie and Clyde_ on YouTube or at least checking out the original cast recording, which is brilliant. Act II will come probably on Sunday!**


	28. Dying Ain't So Bad

**And here we are with Act II of the Bonnie and Clyde AU- Dying Ain't So Bad.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places related to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan. All material from the musical _Bonnie and Clyde_**** belongs to Frank Wildhorn, Don Black, and Ivan Menchell.**

* * *

And so it went. Nico and Will made a name for themselves, not as movie stars like Will always expected, but as fugitives, living legends of sorts.

"All right, everyone, put your hands up!" Will yelled once inside yet another store in another old town.

Nico aimed his gun at the store owner. "You know the drill! Give us your cash."

The owner seemed star struck as he inched his way towards the money. "I can't believe it! Nico and Will!"

Will nodded. "Yes, that's us!"

"You know, babe, that reminds me," Nico said, turning towards his boyfriend. "Why is my name first? Your name should be first."

"What?" Will asked, lowering his gun. "Why should my name come first? Nico and Will sounds better anyway."

Nico shook his head. "Will and Nico sounds fine to me."

Will sighed. "Nico and Will rolls off the tongue easier. There's a melody to it."

"Psh," Nico scoffed and directed his gun at a random man crouched on the floor, who clearly was not thrilled to be part of a hold-up. "Which sounds better, Nico and Will or Will and Nico?"

The hostage stared at the gun for a few seconds. "Um, Will and Nico," he squeaked.

"He's just saying that because you have a gun pointed at him!" Will pointed his own gun at the same hostage. "Now, which do you like better?"

The man glanced between the two guns near his face and promptly fainted.

* * *

Will woke up in the motel room to the sound of Nico quickly getting dressed, hours before he usually did.

"Nico, what are you doing?"

"I have an idea," Nico replied. "Last night, on our way here, we passed by a town with a perfect little bank to rob. I'm going back."

Will jumped out of bed. "Are you crazy? We'll get caught! With all those newspapers advertising us, the police are probably hot on our trail by now. Robbing a bank only makes us bigger targets!"

Nico buttoned up his shirt. "Which is why you're staying here."

"But—"

"No, you're right, Will." Nico slipped on his shoes. "This is getting more dangerous as we grow in popularity. They're all out looking for a couple of men, not one. I'll be less of a target by myself."

Will knew it was useless to try to change his mind. "Just be careful, okay?"

Nico grinned. "Of course. I'll be back in a few hours. Stay in here until I get back." With a peck on Will's lips, Nico left the room.

The waiting was absolutely treacherous. Will alternated between pacing the room and re-reading the newspaper articles about them until finally Nico walked through the door and Will could breathe a sigh of relief. His relief only lasted a few seconds due to the fearful look on Nico's face.

"What's wrong?" Will noticed blood on Nico's hands. "What happened?"

"I—he—," Nico stammered. "I told them I would shoot if they moved, like we usually do—it's always just a bluff though—we never actually intend to shoot anyone—"

Will felt his blood turn cold. "Don't tell me…"

Nico looked at his hands. "I saw him move out of the corner of my eye. I didn't mean to shoot—it was instinct—I wasn't thinking—"

"I can't believe you shot someone!" Will cried.

"He's dead, Will," Nico whispered. "I _killed_ someone."

It took a moment for the gravity of the situation to sink in before Will bolted towards his suitcase and flung it on the bed.

"I gotta get out now while I'm still in the clear!" he concluded, hastily throwing in his clothes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" Nico inquired.

Will paused in his hurried packing. "Robbing stores is one thing, but _murder_?! I'm done, Nico! Maybe I can still live my Hollywood dream, or maybe I should just go back home and try to clear my name. Either way, I can't do this anymore!"

Nico ran at Will and yanked out his recently packed shirts. "Don't say that, we're both just in shock! We need to calm down and think this through, okay?"

Will snatched his shirts back. "You might as well have shot me, Nico! How could you be so stupid?!" He slammed his suitcase closed and pushed his way past Nico to the door.

"Wait!" Nico insisted, grabbing Will's free hand and spinning him around. "Please don't go! You have to know how sorry I am. I swear I didn't mean to shoot him, and if I could turn the clock back and change it, I would in a heartbeat." He cupped Will's face and peered into his eyes. "You have every right to be mad, but the only way we're both going to move on from this is if we do so together. I can't be without you, babe."

Will deliberated as Nico's pleading eyes poured into his own. Finally he sighed and let the suitcase drop to the floor. "My heart wouldn't have let me get far anyway."

Nico smiled and pulled him into a passionate kiss.

"Besides," Will continued, "after everything we've done, it's too late to turn back now."

* * *

"Nico, I still think this is going to go horribly wrong," Will commented from the passenger seat for the twentieth time. "Driving all the way back home just to break out your cousin from jail is absolutely nuts."

Nico sighed, gripping the wheel tighter. "I know it would've been easier just to keep driving into Kansas, but we gotta go back for him. If we can just rob one bank, we'd have enough cash to get all the way to Hollywood. No more stop-and-robs, no more small towns. It has to be done right, though, and Jason is the only man to help us."

Will glanced around nervously as the car pulled up to a motel a few miles away from their home town. Once inside the room, the two went over the plan again to break out Nico's cousin before resigning themselves to waiting until nightfall.

At nine o'clock, an unexpected knock on the door brought them a wave of fear. They grabbed their guns and slowly approached the door, but when Nico opened it, he broke into a wide smile.

"Jason, you bastard! We thought you were the police!" Nico exclaimed, as a tall, blond man stepped into the room and hugged him.

"Nah," Jason said, "But what the hell are you two doing so close to town?"

"Coming to get you!" Nico responded. "Though I guess you beat us to it. How'd you find us?"

Jason took a newspaper out of his back pocket. "The police here have been off their rockers trying to track y'all down. A few days ago, a reporter in a town on the Oklahoma-Texas line spotted you two driving through, which made them believe you were heading back this way. And then this morning, someone tipped them off that you were even closer—it's all the guards have been talking about—and I knew I had to get out to warn you. I've just been checking each town this entire evening looking for your car, which by the way you need to ditch."

Will peered at the newspaper. "This is bad. The police will probably be here any minute!"

As if on cue, another knock on the door made them all jump. Since Jason was closest to the door, he opened it ever so slightly.

"Piper!" He cried, opening the door wider, revealing a woman with her arms crossed. "Nico, Will, this is my wife, Piper, who I told to stay in town!"

Piper pushed passed him into the room and quickly closed the door. "If I stayed in town, you wouldn't know that you have less than five minutes to get out before the police come knocking!"

Upon hearing that, Nico and Will gathered their things.

"Pipes, you gotta go back home," Jason insisted.

"No, I'm not letting you go off without me again!" Piper refused. "Besides, you can't leave here in the car Nico and Will have been using or the one you just stole. I borrowed my dad's car and told him I was going out with the ladies from the salon, so he won't think it's missing for a while."

In two minutes, the four of them piled into the car Piper brought and sped off in hopes of losing the police.

"I don't get it," Jason remarked after a while, "I thought you didn't approve of this."

Piper fiddled with a button on her shirt. "I don't. But I love you, and you need me."

Jason smiled and kissed his wife. The rest of the journey was filled with Nico and Will explaining their plan to Jason, at which point he showed them the large guns he had been hiding in his coat, until they reached the town with the bank they intended to rob, just as the sun began to peek over the horizon. Nico drove the car to a nearby abandoned barn rather than a motel.

"This is safer," he told them. "Just in case the police somehow managed to follow us."

Inside the barn, the four unloaded their belongings, and Nico got a chance to examine the new guns.

"These are gonna change our lives, coz." Nico grinned wickedly at the gun in his hand. "All right, Will, you and Piper stay here and lay low."

Will whipped around. "Why do I have to stay here?"

Nico took his hand. "I need to know you're safe. Last time, things went badly, and I don't want you anywhere near if that happens again. Okay?"

"Fine," Will relented. "But don't come back covered in blood this time."

Will had no idea, however, that the police indeed followed them, that Nico and Jason were walking straight into an ambush, and that despite having pretend gun fights as children, the cousins were not at all prepared for their fate. And neither was Will prepared to hear the screeching of tires and see Nico scrambling into the barn, carrying the bloodied, barely breathing body of Jason.

"Jason!" Piper screamed, running towards her husband as Nico set him down on the floor. The three of them knelt beside the dying man, who managed to smile at Piper and squeeze her hand before his eyes closed and his head rolled to the side. Tears ran down their faces as Piper shook him, trying to wake him up.

"He's dead," Nico choked out, placing his hand on Piper's shoulder. The sound of policemen nearby broke through the grieving silence. "Will, you and Piper need to go."

Piper shook her head, her hand still intertwined with her dead husband's. "I'm staying with Jason."

"You'll be arrested for aiding criminals!" Nico explained, trying to wrench her from the body.

She yanked her arm out of Nico's grasp. "I don't care! I'm not going anywhere!"

Nico gave up. "Fine, Will, take the car and go!" He pushed Will towards the door.

"If I drive off, what will you do?" Will asked.

"I don't know. I'll make a run for it, I guess. You have to go now—it's me they want, and they're out to kill. You wanted out before, now here's your chance."

Will stopped. "I will not leave you here to be shot! If you don't go, I don't go."

Nico looked him in the eyes. "If I come with you, you'll most likely die!"

"Dying ain't so bad if we go together!" Will shouted. "A short and loving life is a far better fate than breathing in dusty air without you!"

"Just go!" Piper yelled at them.

Without giving Nico a chance to retort, Will grabbed his hand and dragged him to the car. They could see the police as they drove away from the barn, Nico's foot pressed hard against the gas pedal and Will's head leaning on Nico's shoulder.

* * *

The next day, the newspapers detailed how the police gunned down an infamous duo in their car on an old Texas road.

_They went down together,_

_Side by side still._

_To few it was grief,_

_To the law a relief,_

_But it was death for Nico and Will._

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for letting me experiment in my writing! I had a lot of fun pretending Nico and Will were Bonnie and Clyde, but I promise the next chapter will be back to the normal one-shots we're all used to, followed by the grand finale (which I'm super excited about because I've been planning it for like a month and a half).**


	29. Yawning is Contagious

**We now return to the regularly scheduled programming of Solangelo one-shots that take place in the actual PJO universe. **

**Please read my author's note at the end of this chapter because I have a very important question to ask y'all!**

**Oh, and this chapter is mostly just conversation rather than a lot of plot because I love love love writing Solangelo dialogue and I won't get to for much longer.**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places related to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Nico and Will trekked hand in hand down some random street after Mrs. O'Leary had dropped them off there.

"I still think Chiron is out of his mind for sending us to retrieve a demigod," Nico remarked, keeping his eyes alert for any sign of monsters.

"Do you really think we're _that_ unqualified?" Will asked, and when Nico nodded, Will playfully smacked him. "I take offense to that. Everyone knows I'm the best at comforting people; it comes with the healing territory."

Nico had to admit that was true. "Okay, but what if there are monsters? You're definitely not the best at fighting them."

"And that would be why you're here," Will pointed out. "Chiron obviously thought this through a little."

"Or he's just desperate because Percy and Annabeth are in school and Grover is out on a different demigod rescue mission," Nico countered, peering into the window of a small collectables store as they passed by (no, he totally wasn't looking for new Mythomagic items).

Will scoffed. "You actually think those three can do a better job than us?" Nico nodded once more. "The last time they tried to retrieve new demigods Annabeth took a dive off a cliff with a monster and Thalia nearly crash landed Apollo's sun chariot into camp. You of all people should know that seeing as you were _there._"

Nico pondered that for a moment. "Okay, maybe you're slightly right."

"I know I am," Will replied. "This should be easy for us. You'll take care the monsters, and I'll handle breaking the news to this kid about the reality of Greek mythology."

"Sounds good..." But Nico stopped listening and focused on their surroundings, gripping the hilt of his sword with his free hand. Something didn't sit right with him.

Will, however, didn't notice anything and just kept blabbing. "Yes, because we have to be careful in matters like this since we don't know how they will react. Tact is important, and let's face it, you're not exactly King of Tact—"

"Will, shut up," Nico interrupted him. "I think we're walking into trouble."

"What do you mean? It seems quiet to me."

"Exactly. Too quiet." Nico gestured to the empty street. "It's the middle of the afternoon, and we're the only people out here."

Will looked around, and sure enough, he couldn't see another person in sight. The shops on either side of the street seemed abandoned, despite the open signs in every window.

"Well..." Will gulped, but tried to maintain his sunny optimism. "New York City is the city that never sleeps, so maybe this town is the city that always sleeps."

Suddenly the realization donned on Nico. "Sleep… of course!" He ran up to a shop window and peeked in. "They're all just sleeping!"

Will looked in as well. "So what kind of monster puts people to sleep?"

"I know a couple gods that do," Nico answered, and as he did, a girl sprinted out of a nearby diner. "Or perhaps a demigod."

The two boys called out to her, which made her stop right in her tracks. They quickly approached the girl, who looked about thirteen with strawberry blonde hair, brown eyes, and a knapsack on her shoulders.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Will asked her.

She wore a fearful expression and seemed to eye them warily. "You guys aren't cops, are you?"

Nico glanced at himself and Will. "Do cops around here look like this?"

The girl shrugged. "You aren't asleep."

"Neither are you," Nico pointed out.

"I know what this looks like, but I didn't do this!" the girl insisted. "At least I don't think I did—I don't really know what happened. I was just sitting in the diner with my friend and I yawned. The next thing I knew everyone in the establishment just passed out! I've heard that yawning was contagious, but this is a whole new level! Everyone on this street is asleep!"

Will patted her shoulder. "We're gonna figure this out, okay?" He turned to Nico. "So Hypnos or Morpheus?"

Nico shook his head. "I'm not sure. Both of their powers overlap, but Morpheus has done this before to the entire Manhattan area."

"Then again," Will added, "Morpheus isn't known to have any children; Hypnos is."

"There's always a first for everything."

The girl watched the conversation in utter confusion. "Okay, can someone please tell me what is going on? Who are you people?"

"We're demigods," Nico told her.

She crossed her arms. "Wow, a little full of ourselves, aren't we?"

Nico stepped closer. "You're a demigod too, kid. The Greek gods are real, one of them is your father, and we're trying to figure out which one."

"Nico!" Will hit him on the arm. "A little tact!"

The girl's face turned a light hue of green. "Excuse me for one moment. I have to go vomit."

She walked a few paces away and proceeded to upchuck on the sidewalk.

Will sighed. "This is why I was supposed to handle breaking the news to her."

"We don't have time for that!" Nico explained, as Will rummaged through his backpack. "She put an entire street to sleep with a single yawn! We need to get her to camp quickly before she knocks out the whole town."

The girl returned, looking slightly better. Will held out a small bottle of nectar for her to take. "Here, drink this. It'll help with the nausea."

She stared at the vial and back at Will as if he was insane. "Are you nuts? I have enough sense not to drink anything from strangers, at least until I know more about you guys."

"Fair enough," Will conceded. "I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo."

"I'm Nico di Angelo, son of Hades."

The girl nodded and took a deep breath to help calm herself down. "Great. And I'm Abigail, daughter of… Morphine or Hypnosis?"

Will chuckled. "Morpheus or Hypnos—the god of dreams and the god of sleep."

"That would explain a lot," Abigail said. "So how do we know which one is my father?"

"He should claim you when we get back to Camp Half-Blood, a camp made specifically for Greek demigods to keep us safe," Nico started to clarify. "Wait, how are you so cool with this? You just believed us right away."

Abigail ran her fingers through her hair. "Um, first of all, I don't think 'cool with it' really describes me considering I just vomited on the sidewalk. And second, if you told me this an hour ago, I probably would have punched you in the face. But the whole magical yawn thing is pretty hard evidence to dispute." She glanced at her shoes. "Besides, having sex with a god and then neglecting to tell me that important detail of my entire existence honestly sounds like something my mom would do."

"Speaking of which," Will realized, "You should go get her since she should probably hear all of this too."

"Can't do that," Abigail replied. "My mom ran off with a traveling circus eight years ago. She left me at my neighbor's house and told them she was going to get milk, but she never returned. I just kept staying with them."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's a new one."

Abigail clapped her hands. "So, are we going to go to this Camp Half-Blood place? I really don't want to be here when they all wake up… they will wake up, right?"

Will nodded. "Definitely. And yeah, we should get going. Did you want to tell your neighbors goodbye?"

"Nah," Abigail said. "They'll be glad that I left. I kind of overstayed my welcome by eight years." She dug through her bag and pulled out a pen and a napkin. "I'll leave them note though. 'Ran off with the circus. Don't expect me back ever. Abigail.' Yep, they'll believe that."

She darted back inside the diner and placed the napkin on a table. When she returned, Will grabbed Nico's hand once more and they all began to walk to the nearest corner.

Abigail noticed the two holding hands and stopped. "Oh my god! Or do y'all say gods? Anyway, you two are a couple, aren't you?" Will grinned at her. "Whoa, a son of Apollo and a son of Hades together. Who'd have thought?" She paused. "Of course, this entire day is turning out to be one big 'who'd have thought?', but you know what I mean."

Will laughed softly as Nico whistled loudly for Mrs. O'Leary. Abigail seemed absolutely thrilled at the sight of large hellhound bounding towards them, but that quickly changed after she actually shadow traveled on said hellhound.

* * *

It turned out that Abigail was the first known demigod daughter of Morpheus at Camp Half-Blood, much to Jason's dismay because he just finished Morpheus' shrine and now needed to instead build a cabin.

"I think today was a success," Will commented as Nico leaned against him at the campfire that evening.

Nico agreed. "A hundred sleepers is truly a mild outcome. At least no one fell off a cliff."

"Unfortunately, under different circumstances, Apollo is still here at camp." Will glanced over at his father singing Poker Face by Lady Gaga and groaned.

Nico laughed and peered towards Abigail, who was sitting with Clovis and the Hypnos campers since she would be staying in their cabin until her own could be built. Abigail noticed the two of them and waved, a big smile plastered on her face.

"You know," Nico said, turning his head to look at Will, "I guess Chiron wasn't completely out of his mind. We make a pretty good team."

Will beamed and kissed Nico lightly. "Who'd have thought?"

* * *

**A/N: If you're reading this right now, you rock! :) Okay so, since the next chapter is the final one, my question for you guys is: of the 29 chapters, which were your favorites? I'm really curious to see which ones were the most popular, so please please please let me know! Even if you've never reviewed before, you can literally just write "I liked chapter [insert number] the best." I have my own personal favorites, but I want to know yours because y'all kept me going for 30 chapters and I appreciate all of you so much!**

**Expect the finale sometime on Sunday! (Hopefully!)**


	30. The Last Five Years

**(This Author's note is going to be very long because I have a lot to say, but it contains important information about the format of this chapter, so please at least read that!)**

**30 chapters, 49,453 words, and 123 Microsoft word pages later...**** I am done with this story. I want to thank every single person who ever read what I wrote here; I started writing this to overcome my writer's block (I succeeded!), but honestly, without your support, I probably wouldn't have gotten very far. I'm still in shock that I remained committed to this story- I thought I would get to, like, five chapters tops. So again, thanks to you guys :)**

**To those who wished this story wouldn't end: I want to say that I'm so honored that you still want to read my writing! However, I'm leaving in fewer than 36 hours for a new university that's 16 hours away from my home, and I'm pretty sure that all my time will be filled with Theatre. Plus, I have five unfinished writing projects that I would like to finish within the next century, so any free time I have to write I'll use on those. That being said, if for some reason I happen to get randomly inspired somewhere down the line to write more Solangelo, I'll post it as a separate one-shot (but I wouldn't count on it because, like I said, I have multiple projects to work on). This story itself is for sure complete. **

**All right, so about this grand finale: I wanted to pay homage to the whole concept of this story- a bunch of random one-shots- and I thought the perfect way to do that is by applying Solangelo to a movie musical I'm currently obsessed with called _The Last Five Years_. Based on that movie (you should all at least look up the soundtrack on iTunes/Youtube... it has Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan in it), the premise for this finale is eleven separate blurbs from throughout Nico and Will's relationship, alternating between their points of view. The sections from Nico's perspective start five years later and work their way backwards to the beginning of their relationship. The sections from Will's perspective start from the beginning of their relationship and trace events up to a point five years later. They meet in the middle for an important moment in their relationship. I'm sorry if it's so confusing when you read it, and if you can't understand the chronology, you can always just look at it as a collection of one-shots. Just remember: Nico is counting down, Will is counting up.**

**I guess that's all I have to say about this finale, so I'll just leave you with this. Thanks again, and goodbye! :)**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places related to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus series belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Nico watched his boyfriend of nearly five years play with their cat, Phantom, in the living room of their new, shared apartment. He never imagined his life would turn out quite like this; of course, he never imagined he would even have a life at almost twenty years old, but he always figured that if he lived long, his life wouldn't include a steady relationship with a son of Apollo, a great group of friends, and most of all, actual happiness.

"What'cha thinking about?" Will asked as he plopped down beside Nico on the couch and placed Phantom on his lap. The cat immediately nuzzled against Nico's arm, demanding a good rub.

Nico obliged and began to scratch Phantom behind his ears. "I don't know. I'm just wondering if I'm dead."

Will scrunched his eyebrows. "Why on earth would you be wondering that?"

"Because all of this," he gestured to the apartment and his boyfriend, "Must be Elysium."

Will's smile that followed lit up the entire room. "I'm your Elysium?"

Nico shrugged dramatically. "Ehhhhh, you're okay."

"Oh, I'm okay?" Will playfully grabbed Nico by the shoulders and pulled him into a forced cuddle, nearly squashing Phantom in the process. The son of Hades grinned into Will's chest and allowed himself to settle comfortably in his arms.

The two remained together on the couch in silence until Will kissed Nico's forehead and whispered, "You're my Elysium, too."

Nico let out a wistful sigh. "How did I get so lucky?"

"Hey now, you're not gonna start spewing crap about you don't deserve this, are you?" Will scolded him.

"Nah," Nico replied, gazing into Will's eyes. "For once, I actually believe I deserve it."

* * *

Will's heart raced as he stood in front of the Hades cabin like an idiot scared to death, his hand frozen in mid-air inches from the door.

"Just knock, dummy," he muttered. He took a deep breath and worked up his courage to knock, but he didn't get a chance to do so because the door flung open, revealing Nico with a serious case of adorable bed-head and a pink face.

"I could hear you mumbling to yourself," Nico explained.

Will rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, sorry. Um anyway, so I wanted to talk to you because… well… you know… we kissed yesterday."

Nico's face reddened more. "Yeah, we did." He looked down and donned an expression that Will immediately recognized, one that spoke volumes about Nico's view of himself and his disbelief that anyone could like him as much as Will did.

"I wouldn't care if you had a tattoo!" Will blurted out.

"What? I don't have a tattoo…" Nico responded in utter confusion.

Will nodded. "I know. I'm just saying that if you had one, I wouldn't mind. It also wouldn't matter to me if you, like, pierced your tongue or something, or shaved your head. You know what I mean?"

Nico shook his head. "No, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Those things are trivial and don't affect who you are." Will stepped closer. "Just like which god is your parent, or how you may have reacted when your sister died, or your ability to accidentally ghostify people. None of that defines you, not to me at least."

"I don't deserve you," Nico said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Will grabbed Nico's hand. "Yes, you do! Because you are a strong fighter who is willing to sacrifice himself for the unity of two feuding camps and is fiercely protective of those he cares about. That is who you are, Nico di Angelo. And that is the guy I have a massive, massive crush on."

Nico fixated on Will's eyes, and Will waited, expecting him to protest. Instead, Nico just sighed, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, and Will knew he had somewhat gotten through to the stubborn son of Hades.

* * *

Percy stood up and raised his glass of Blue Coke.

"I would like to propose a toast to the Birthday Boy," Percy announced to the group of friends sitting on their picnic blankets in the middle of New Rome. "Neeks, I've watched you grow so much from that ten year old kid with too many questions, and I can't tell you how proud I am. You've certainly come a very long way. So happy nineteenth birthday, bro! To Nico di Angelo!"

"To Nico di Angelo!" His chorus of friends repeated, lifting their own glasses into the air.

Nico smiled. "Thanks guys. And thanks Perce."

As he watched Percy sit back down beside Annabeth, a paper plate containing a piece of cake suddenly appeared in front of his face. Nico's eyes traveled from the hand that held the plate and up the arm until he was face to face with his boyfriend beside him.

"Cake?" Will offered.

Nico glanced at the treat. "This wasn't made with an Easy Bake Oven, was it?"

Will laughed and playfully nudged his shoulder against Nico, who gladly accepted the cake. He gingerly took a bite and focused his attention on the people around him.

Percy and Annabeth sat very close together, the two seemingly teasing one another as Percy rested his arm on his wife's shoulders.

Beside them were Jason and Piper shoving cake into each other's faces, her new engagement ring glistening on Piper's finger.

Nico had to suppress a chuckle when his eyes moved on to Leo and he saw that said son of Hephaestus accidentally got overexcited about the cake and nearly set Calypso's hand on fire, but she laughed it off and kissed him tenderly on the cheek (which may not have actually helped to calm him down).

To the right of those two, Nico noticed Reyna and Rachel digging into their shared piece of cake, their heads close together, deep in conversation.

And next to him, Hazel and Frank held hands, whispering to each other about who knows what. Nico caught Frank's eye and shot him a mock-threatening 'I'm watching you' glare, to which Frank nodded and responded with a 'don't you worry' look.

All around Nico was pure companionship and love for one another. He grinned.

"Thanks for letting me be a part of that," he said so softly that Will was the only one who heard him.

His boyfriend kissed his head lightly. "Always."

* * *

Will waited patiently for his boyfriend to arrive at the lake and was pleasantly surprised when he showed up in his swim trunks like Will asked him to.

"Alright, I'm here," Nico declared. "What's going on?"

"Well," Will began. "I thought we could go canoeing." He gestured to the canoe waiting on the edge of the water.

Nico stared at him. "In what world is this a great way to spend our anniversary?"

"Why not celebrate one year of dating by doing something we've never done before and will probably never do again?" Will took Nico's hand. "Come on, it could be fun!"

"Yeah, _could_. Which means there's a chance it won't be." Nevertheless, Nico allowed Will to help him into the small boat.

The two paddled around the lake to the tune of _Eye of the Tiger_ hummed by Will. It was going well until Nico decided to paddle faster to see what would happen, prompting Will to row faster as well in order to keep the canoe straight.

"Wait, Nico, I think we're moving too fast!" Will cried. He was right, of course, and soon the water rippled hard around them and the imbalance of rowing eventually tipped over the canoe, sending the boys into the water.

When the two surfaced, Will was happy to see Nico actually smiling.

"You should have seen your face as we fell into the water!" He started to laugh uncontrollably, and a sight like that only made Will join him.

Finally they both calmed down enough to grab the boat and swim back to land.

"Okay," Nico admitted later that day. "Maybe it was a little fun."

* * *

"Why did I agree to this?" Nico groaned as he shoved a few shirts and an extra pair of pants in his knapsack.

"Because you're a loving son?" Will answered, and Nico replied with a loud scoff. "Come on, you've done stuff for your father before."

Nico closed his bag and swung it onto his shoulders. "Yeah, but an entire summer in the Underworld? Honestly, how much work could my father possibly have that he needs me the whole summer?"

Will shrugged. "Maybe he just misses you." Another scoff from Nico. "I'm serious! You're his only living demigod kid, and you haven't really visited him recently."

"What's wrong with a simple lunch then?" Nico sighed. "A few years ago I would have been fine doing this, but now I actually like it better up here where there's those dumb movies you always make us watch or spicy tacos that really aren't that spicy or... you..."

Nico trailed off as he realized exactly why he dreaded going to the Underworld so much.

Will approached Nico and wrapped his arms around him in a close embrace. "I'm going to miss you too, Death Boy."

But Nico wouldn't just miss Will. The son of Apollo had once pulled Nico from the shadows of the Underworld, and although the son of Hades would never admit it, he spent the past three and a half years terrified that it would happen again. Nico knew his father would never intentionally push him over the edge, at least not now, but who would be there to stop him in case he tried too hard to prove himself? Nico had a bad track record of doing that.

"Even though I'll be super busy with those college prep classes I'm taking at the university," Will said, "I promise I'll visit… that is, if your father will allow me to."

Nico looked up into Will's eyes. "You really want to visit the Underworld?"

Will smiled. "I want to visit you. I'm actually kind of curious to see where the Ghost King reigns."

"I'm holding you to that promise," Nico replied, beaming internally at the idea of Will hanging out in his palace room like they did in his camp cabin.

"Of course." Will leaned down and kissed Nico. "Until I do come around though, I'm sure it won't be torture."

"No, it literally will be. My father sometimes has me assist in the Fields of Punishment."

* * *

Neither of them really knew why they became obsessed with playing Uno. Maybe it was because the two boys were equally matched. Or maybe it was because the game was uncomplicated, a much needed change from their daily lives. Will secretly loved the game because Nico always made a cute face whenever he had to draw four cards. Whatever the reason, Will and Nico were at it again in Cabin Thirteen, well past curfew, that is, until Nico randomly threw down his cards.

"I don't know what I'm doing!"

"Um, Nico, we're playing Uno… are you okay?" Will placed a hand on his boyfriend's forehead. "Do you need to lie down?"

Nico shook his head. "I don't mean what am I doing right now. I mean, what am I doing with my life?"

Will scrunched his eyebrows. "You're living it- that's the important thing."

"I think I'm doing it wrong then." Nico huffed. "I never really gave my future much thought because, well, I didn't think I would have one. But everyone else seems to have theirs figured out— even you already know that next year you want to go to New York University for a medical degree. I have no clue what I want to do!"

"Hey, where is all this coming from?" Will asked, his concern for Nico building.

Nico shrugged. "I've been contemplating it a lot recently. I didn't want to bring it up, but every time I think about it I freak out a little."

Will scooted closer to Nico. "The future is scary for all of us, but I've noticed that it helps to take the future ten minutes at a time."

"How is that helpful?"

"Plan to spend your next ten minutes with me, playing our favorite game," Will explained. "Can you handle that?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah. And then what?"

Will took Nico's hand. "And then… will you share your life with me for the next ten minutes after that?"

Nico nodded once more.

"And how about the following ten minutes?"

The son of Hades sighed. "I understand now."

Will smiled. "Good. I hate seeing you so overwhelmed. If you ever need someone to share ten minutes with, I'm always here because you know I…"

He stopped, those three little words hanging on his tongue. Despite dating for two and a half years, Will and Nico had never actually said those three words to each other. They both knew how they felt, but neither thought it necessary to say it out loud. Will was always afraid that if he said it first, he would put too much pressure on Nico and chase him off. Nothing terrified him more than the thought of that happening. However, as he caught himself this time, he realized Nico needed to hear those words, and Will so badly wanted to say them.

Will took a deep breath and continued. "Because you know I love you, Death Boy."

…

Nico swore he felt his heart leap right out of his chest as he processed what Will just told him. So many times he had whispered those words to himself, wary of actually proclaiming his true feelings out of fear—fear that once he completely opened his heart and bared it all for Will to see, Nico would be at his most vulnerable. And sure, maybe he would be, but with Will's hand in his, Nico, for the first time, was actually willing to take that chance.

"I love you too, Sunshine."

Will beamed and tenderly kissed Nico, vanishing any trace of uncertainty about his future. In that moment, and hopefully for the next ten moments or even the next ten lifetimes, Nico didn't feel vulnerable—he felt stronger.

* * *

Will leaned against the doorframe of the private infirmary room, observing his boyfriend, who sat on the floor surrounded by several textbooks. Multiple times Nico ran his hand through his hair and huffed out of frustration, but he continued to take notes and attempt to understand the concepts, and Will was proud of his perseverance.

"I'll never be able to get this," he muttered finally.

"Hey, don't stress," Will said, walking over to Nico and massaging his shoulders. "I know it might take time, but you'll pick it up eventually."

Nico flung his notebook across the room. "That's easy for you to say! You had no problems passing high school, but I'm working with a fifth grade 1940s education. Do you know how much history I missed out on? I have no idea who Eisenhower was or what the Cold War was, though apparently it wasn't a war fought in really cold places. Plus science has gotten more complex, and I really have no interest reading _A Tale of Two Cities_ or analyzing the symbolism and characters and what not."

Will kissed the top of Nico's head. "I can help you with the science stuff, and I'm sure Annabeth would be willing to tutor you in everything else."

"It's not just that." Nico sighed. "I'm so out of place there. I know Percy thinks highly of Goode and Paul's there whenever I need him, but I'm an eighteen year old boy in freshman classes. Everyone gives me the strangest looks, and it only makes me feel worse when they're all way smarter than I am… I don't know why you thought I could do this."

"Whoa, whoa, Nico," Will sat beside the son of Hades, grabbed his face, and stared into Nico's eyes. "If I didn't believe in you, I wouldn't have encouraged you to get your high school diploma in the first place. High school is just another challenge for you to overcome, but it's nothing the Ghost King can't do." Suddenly, an idea struck Will. "Oh my gods, that's it!"

Nico raised one eyebrow, his face still cupped by Will's hands. "What's it?"

"You're not at a disadvantage, Nico!" Will exclaimed, gripping his face tighter. "You've got the biggest advantage out of all those freshmen!"

"How so?"

Will relaxed his arms. "You're the _Ghost King_," he whispered. "You don't know who Eisenhower was? Summon his ghost! Having trouble analyzing _A Tale of Two Cities_? Talk to Charles Dickens!"

Nico pondered that idea for a few moments. "I… I guess you're right." Will could tell that the gears in Nico's brain were turning, and just like that, his determination to succeed was back. "Maybe I can actually pass high school! Thanks, Will."

The son of Apollo pecked Nico's cheek before leaving Nico to sort out a list of potential dead tutors. As Will exited the room, he turned around to watch Nico one last time, his belief in the other boy growing exponentially.

* * *

Nico stood on the side of the archery range as Will fired an arrow, missing the bullseye by about a foot.

"I can do better than that," Nico called out.

Will smirked. "Oh yeah? Prove it."

Nico walked towards him and took the bow from his hands. Sure enough, his arrow pierced the target a few inches closer to the bullseye than Will's did.

"How did you do that?" Will pondered in disbelief.

"I told you I could do better than that," Nico pointed out. "So I did."

Will crossed his arms. "What, are those like your magic words or something?"

Nico shrugged. "I told myself that when my father called me a disappointment and when I got over my crush on Percy… and look where I am now."

"That's called self-confidence, Death Boy," Will stated. "And it looks great on you."

Nico blushed while Will wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. How this boy could still manage to make Nico turn red was beyond comprehension.

Will seemed to like it though because he stepped forward and quickly kissed Nico.

"I can do better than that," Nico whispered and he yanked Will back to him. In their year and a half of dating, Nico had never given Will a kiss quite as fantastic as that one.

* * *

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," Nico insisted from his spot next to Will's.

Will shook his head. "Oh no, I am not backing out." He turned to the tattoo artist standing over him, ready to begin the process. "Do it."

The artist glanced at Nico for approval, who merely smiled and nodded, and he placed his utensil against Will's right upper back.

That afternoon, when Will and Nico left the tattoo parlor, bandages on their backs, Will started practically skipping down the street.

"I can't believe we actually got tattoos!" Will exclaimed.

Nico scoffed. "You don't have to yell it so loudly though."

Will grabbed Nico's hand. "Are you kidding me? Everybody needs to know!"

He grinned so wide as they trekked through the streets of Manhattan, anxious to remove the coverings and reveal their tattoos to their friends. The suggestion to get coordinating tattoos had been Nico's, although he mentioned it as a joke, but they decided on the quote together. On Nico's back near his left shoulder, he had the words _Even the darkest night will end_, and on Will's back near his right shoulder, he had the words _The sun will rise_. Will wanted the quote because it was from _Les Miserables_, but he became adamant upon using it when Nico casually told him that Will said something similar to him after they kissed for the first time.

Now, their idea had finally come to life, and Will couldn't have been happier to display his love for Nico to the world in a subtle yet deep manner.

* * *

Nico tried very hard to concentrate on anything else besides the feel of Will's fingers around his wrist.

"Your pulse is racing, are you okay?" Will asked in his usual concerned tone.

"I'm fine," Nico lied. "So when can I go?"

"You promised me three days in the infirmary," Will reminded him, poking Nico on the forehead. "And I intend to make you fulfill that promise, Nico di Angelo."

Nico rolled his eyes but was secretly glad to stay—not that he would ever say that to Will.

The son of Apollo wrote down Nico's pulse and shut his folder. "You only have one more day left, all right? Can you handle it here until then?"

"I suppose so."

Will smiled at him, which sent Nico's stomach tumbling. "Great. Now you should get more sleep. I'll be back to check on you in the morning." With a wink and a pat on the shoulder, Will strutted from the room, leaving Nico to thoughts he wished to avoid.

"Yeah," Nico whispered when he recalled how to breathe. "Goodbye… until tomorrow."

Nico gazed at the doorway, silently hoping that Will would come back through there. He tried to shake off whatever feelings washed over him, but he knew exactly what was happening. It was another Percy situation, except Will was different—monumentally different from Percy. Nico was already opening up to Will one stitch at a time, and he barely even knew the guy.

As confused as he was, Nico knew one thing for sure: he couldn't wait until tomorrow.

* * *

Will and Nico strolled hand in hand around Camp Half-Blood, just enjoying each other's company and taking in the sight of their favorite place.

"We don't visit here nearly enough anymore," Will remarked as they passed by a group of new campers in a sparring lesson.

"No, we don't," Nico agreed. "I guess our lives have just been busy lately."

The two of them approached Half-Blood Hill, and Will stopped.

"Can you believe that's where we met?" he questioned.

Nico grinned. "Yeah, when I almost decapitated you."

Will stared ahead. "A lot has changed since then, including us." He began to climb the hill, dragging Nico along. "This may be the most important hill in existence."

"What about those hills that are alive with the sound of music?"

Will laughed. "Touché, my dear." When they reached the top, the son of Apollo smiled. "I remember the first time I saw you right here and thought you were incredibly stupid—"

"Hey!" Nico cried defensively. "I could say the same about you!"

"But," Will continued. "I also thought you were brave and cute and damaged. You were a hero, but you never saw yourself as one, and I made it my goal to prove to you that you were, and always will be, worth saving. I think I realized early on that I could never rescue you—you had to do that yourself… and you did."

Nico leaned his head on Will's shoulder. "I had a little help."

They were silent for a few seconds before Will sighed. "This hill is where our story began five years ago—"

"Please don't finish that sentence with 'and this is also where it ends'," Nico interrupted.

Will chuckled and turned so that he was facing Nico. "No, I was going to say that this is also where it's transformed."

With shaking hands he pulled a small box out of his pocket. Nico's eyes immediately widened, which almost made Will lose his resolve, but he took a deep breath and dropped to one knee.

"Nico di Angelo, I may have practiced that speech in the shower for the past week, so will you make it all worthwhile and marry me?"

He waited for what seemed like a lifetime (it was really only about five seconds) before Nico broke out into a wide smile.

"Yes, the answer has always been yes, Will Solace," Nico replied.

Will jumped to his feet, picked up Nico, and spun him around, planting a passionate kiss on his lips somewhere amidst all that excitement.

"So will you wear that Hawaiian shirt for the wedding?" Will asked when he stopped spinning Nico around.

Nico scoffed. "Hell no."

"But I thought the answer is always yes?"

"Don't push it, Sunshine."

Will beamed and pulled Nico into a tight embrace. The newly engaged couple didn't know how long they remained that way, neither did they care. All they cared about was each other in that moment as they cherished the warmth of their love.


End file.
